A World of Hope
by theoriginalbookthief07
Summary: Steve had promised to take Christy to Disney World. Bucky had never been and neither had the twins, so of course they had to come. And they needed Sam along, for sanity's sake. Then Clint's kids wanted to go, too… Pretty soon, Tony had booked them all resort rooms in Orlando. This was a good idea, right? Post-AOU, Sixth in the ChristyVerse.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note: Hello to all my readers, both old and new! Welcome to another installment of the ChristyVerse!  
**

 **If you're asking, "What the heck is the ChristyVerse?" then I would direct you to my profile, to the story entitled "We Can Be Found." After that, I would direct you toward either "I Dream Things that Never Were (And Ask Why Not)" or "Never Meant For You to Fix Yourself," depending on where your interests lie.**

 **The basic summary of my 'Verse is this: about 5 months after the Battle of Manhattan, all the Avengers are living in the Tower. Steve Rogers adopts a seven-year-old girl named Christy. Life ensues. Other major differences include: Loki having a redemption arc, Bucky getting found soon after the events of Winter Soldier, and Pietro NOT DYING!  
**

 **But to actually understand this story, you need to go back and at least read "We Can Be Found," "Never Meant For You To Fix Yourself," and probably some of "The War Outside Our Door Keeps Ragin' On." Otherwise you'll probably be very confused.  
**

 **As with my other stories, there may be instances of MILD profanity in some chapters. (No f-word, no s-word). This is only because, with these characters, low-level profanity is sometimes needed for accuracy, but no more than you would hear in an actual Marvel movie.**

 **To everyone who's been following my stuff: welcome back. This fic came about because of the number of "Avengers go to Disney World" fics that I found. I love Disney World and have been there several times with my family over the course of my growing up. So I was slightly disappointed that most of the "Disney" fics were very cracky and totally for humor's sake. Now, granted, this fic isn't going to have anywhere near the angst level of something like "Never Meant...", but I have developed these characters to a certain point, and I'm not going to sacrifice all that development for a bunch of cheap laughs. Basically, since I have a fairly good knowledge of what goes into a Disney trip, I just apply the characters to those situations and BAM! Instant story.**

 **I don't know how long this story is going to be, but it might end up as my shortest yet. I'm mostly writing it for personal enjoyment and to give all the characters a "break". Hope you enjoy everything.  
**

* * *

 **A World of Hope**

Chapter One

"Rogers, have you completely lost your mind?"

Steve couldn't help but smirk at Natasha's very annoyed expression. "Well, I wouldn't say _completely_ …" The skewering look the spy gave him indicated that semantics wasn't the biggest issue right now. "Besides, it's been a tense month. Christy needs a break. _I_ need a break. And with Stark knee-deep in base-building plans…there's not a whole lot I can do right now. We're not training until the base is built. And we'll only be gone a week."

Natasha gave a huffing sigh. "But seriously… _Disney World_?"

She might as well have said "Mars".

Steve shrugged. "She asked to go there."

"When?"

"When were all holed up at Barton's place…" Steve paused, shaking his head. "That still sounds weird. Nice, but weird."

"She asked to go to Disney World while we were in the middle of fighting a megalomaniac robot?"

"No!" Steve looked suitably affronted on his daughter's behalf. " _I_ said that when all that was over, I'd take her somewhere far away. She suggested Disney World. Now, she's out of school and we're taking a bit of a reprieve. I don't see why I can't take her."

"Because you're _Captain America_?"

"People see what they expect to see." Steve said patiently. "You taught me that one. Nobody expects to see Captain America at Disney World with his ten-year-old daughter and two best friends. Besides, we'll dress casual and lay low."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Barnes, I'm not surprised, but you managed to talk Wilson into this hare-brained scheme?"

"Officially, he's coming to 'keep us out of trouble'. Unofficially…he hasn't been since he was kid and wanted to go again. And, of course, Bucky's never been at all…"

" _Bozhe moy…_ " Natasha muttered

"You could come too, y'know…" Steve said, giving his best persuasive smile, the kind that had always gone over well when selling war bonds.

Natasha glanced out the window and muttered something inaudible.

"I'm thinkin' about asking Clint if he wants to go, take his family…" Steve pushed.

"You do know that Laura just had a baby recently…?"

Steve shrugged. "You can take babies. I checked. And she wouldn't be short of sitters…"

Despite herself, Natasha couldn't help smiling. "You really have thought this all out, haven't you?"

Steve sighed. "I haven't had a real vacation since that ill-fated motorcycle trip after the Battle of New York. And certainly not a real vacation with Christy. I always wanted to travel, but I never had the money for anything but occasional ferry rides or trips to Coney Island—and I don't count being in the army as a 'trip'!"

"No, I wouldn't count it either…" Natasha said musingly. "Look, Steve, if you wanna go, I can't stop you. Obviously."

"You should come." Steve repeated. "When's the last time _you_ had a vacation?

Natasha opened her mouth to retort, and then slowly shut it.

"Thought so." Steve once more gave that incredibly persuasive grin. "C'mon…you need a break. Have some fun. Steal back your childhood…"

Natasha sighed. "Alright, alright, you incorrigible idiot! I'll think about it!" she paused. "What about the twins?"

"Well, they're with Clint this week, so I'll ask them when I call him." Steve smiled a bit. "I wonder how they're enjoying 'life on the farm'."

"If they're anything like I was, they'll think it's both the strangest and most wonderful place in the world." Natasha said, completely honest.

"Disney World might rival you for that claim." Steve said, straight-faced. When Natasha looked confused, he added. "Apparently it's called 'The Happiest Place on Earth.'"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Well, that's debatable…but I'll give them a chance to prove themselves."

Steve nodded calmly, but inwardly, he was cheering.

 _One down…_

* * *

Clint walked in the front door and back into the kitchen. He'd been out in the backyard taking care of a few minor things that needed fixing.

Laura was unloading the dishwasher, so he snuck up behind her and grabbed her shoulders. She tensed at the sudden pressure, and then leaned back onto him. "Hey."

Clint smiled; he loved being home. "Where're the kids?"

Laura turned around and smirked. "Well, let's see. Nathaniel's napping, Cooper's hiding out with a book somewhere, Lila managed to talk Wanda into coloring with her, and Pietro's…running."

"Running where?"

"I told him anywhere as long as he stays away from roads and doesn't run anyone over."

Clint nodded. "Good advice."

"You know, I wasn't exactly sure what to think when you said you were bringing home the two kids you told me about, but…" Laura shrugged. "It's worked out pretty well."

"They're good kids. And they needed a break away from the land of giant skyscrapers." Clint said quietly. He took a deep breath. "Speaking of breaks…"

Laura gave her husband an amused smile. "Yes?" Clint was so cute when he tried to ask her something 'on the sly'.

"Well, uh, Steve called me earlier…"

"Another mission? So soon?"

"No, no; not a mission, not exactly. Just, ah…"

"Yes…?"

"Steve's takin' Christy to Disney World and wanted to know if we wanted to come." The sentence rushed out in one breathless streak. Clint's hazel eyes were slightly bugged out.

"And what did you tell him?" Laura asked, keeping her tone carefully calm and the inner smirk off of her lips.

"I said I'd ask you…?" Clint trailed off, like a child in school guessing at the right answer.

Laura sighed. "It's fine, Clint." she said, putting him out of his misery. "You can go. Take the kids; have fun. We haven't taken a vacation for a couple years; there's enough money saved."

"What about you?" he asked, brow crinkling up.

"I…don't think it would be the best idea to take a one month old to Disney. I guess it's possible…"

"It is!" Clint assured hastily. "Steve actually looked that up."

"He did?" Laura looked slightly startled.

Clint shrugged. "He's like that. Likes to cover all his bases and know all the facts. Guess it's a good habit to get into if you wake up seventy years out of time."

"I guess so. Look, Clint, how long is this trip gonna be?"

"A week, just a week. I don't know where we'd stay, but Stark probably has a deal he could get us somewhere…"

"And who all would go?"

"Rogers, the kid, Barnes, Wilson…and from the sound of it, he managed to con Natasha into coming, too. Oh, and he said to ask the twins."

Laura raised an eyebrow. "They have enough money?"

"Uh…Steve may have offered to pay for one or both of them. Both, if we didn't come."

"Pay for what?" Pietro sauntered into the kitchen. He gave Laura a shy smile hello and then turned a more determined face on Clint. "I thought we had money."

"You do." Clint said patiently. Ever since Wanda and Pietro had been given their SHIELD salary, for being Avengers (as well as a start-up fund anonymously donated to by all the rest of the team), they had been very stubborn about letting anyone else buy them anything. "But it probably isn't enough for a vacation trip."

"Vacation trip?" Pietro cocked his head and looked extremely interested. "Where?"

Clint plastered a giant, exaggerated smile on his face, and said excitedly, "Disney World!"

Looking torn between excitement, amusement, and confusion, Pietro asked, "Disney World? Like…Mickey Mouse and princesses?"

"Well, yeah…and also roller coasters, dark rides, and really good food—from what I've heard."

Pietro nodded slowly. "Okay…"

"We're going to Disney World?!"

Lila's voice, which sounded even higher due to excitement, came tumbling down the stairs. He body soon followed, dragging Wanda behind her. The Sokovian gave an amused grin and managed to extricate her hand from the six-year-old's grip, before leaning against her brother.

 _"_ _Have a good run? And what's going on?_ " she asked Pietro.

 _"_ _Yes, I did. It's nice to have space. And, I have no idea. Something about going to Disney World?"_

 _"_ _Disney World?"_ Wanda frowned. She had heard of the place before, mainly from American TV shows, but… _"_ _Isn't that place for kids?"_

 _"_ _Apparently not…"_

"You two would enjoy it." Laura said quietly. Both twins jumped. "Sorry, but I figured that's what you were…discussing. However you do it."

Wanda blushed a little. "How did you tell?"

"Your eyes fade out, both of you. And Pietro stops making jokes."

Now it was Pietro's turn to look sheepish.

"But really, I think you would enjoy yourselves. I…" she sighed. "I don't mean to sound like a terrible person, but I don't think you two had much of a childhood."

"We had a good childhood!" Pietro protested.

"It just ended when we were ten." Wanda added.

"Exactly." Laura gave a sad smile. "So go, if you want. Have some fun before you start training. I went when I was a teenager and still enjoyed myself."

"Fun…" Pietro muttered, tasting the word like forbidden fruit.

Meanwhile, Clint was explaining the situation to a very wound-up Lila. "Mr. Steve called me; he and Mr. Bucky and Mr. Sam are gonna take Christy, so he asked if we wanted to go. I said I'd ask your mom…"

Lila suddenly looked worried. "What about Nathaniel? He's too little, right?"

"I'm going to stay home with Nathaniel and have my own vacation." Laura said, giving Clint a 'don't worry' look. "You two will go with your dad."

Lila let out a happy shriek and rushed into the living room, where Cooper was curled up with a book on the couch. "Cooper, we're gonna go to Disney World!"

Cooper dropped the book. "I know, I heard them talking!"

Lila huffed slightly. "How come you're so sneaky and know everything?"

"'Cause I'm quiet and I listen!" Cooper shot back, standing up. "'C'mon!"

The kids raced into the kitchen and Clint found himself barraged by questions that moved as fast as his arrows.

"Can we ride the one roller coaster that goes really fast? My friend at school told me about it."

"Can we meet Elsa?"

"Can we ride everything?"

"Can I get a Mickey hat?"

"Can…?"

Clint finally managed to stave off the tide. "Yes, yes to everything! I'll have to measure you two to make sure you're both tall enough, but yes, we'll ride everything we can! Why else would we go to an amusement park?"

"They have rides that go fast?" Pietro interjected, looking extremely interested.

Cooper nodded. "My friend told me they have one ride that goes from zero to sixty in three seconds! And it gets _faster_!"

"That's zero to sixty _miles_." Clint clarified. "That's…about a hundred kilometers."

Pietro pretended to yawn. Wanda elbowed him in the ribs.

"You're coming, right?" Cooper asked.

The twins both turned and gave each other furtive looks that signified a mental conversation.

"Money's not a problem…" Clint started.

"We're paying." Wanda said bluntly.

Clint sighed. He had a feeling that there would be a lot of "I'm paying" "No, I am" on this trip.

"What if you two buy tickets and let someone else pay for food?" Laura asked smoothly.

Clint leaned over and gave Laura a smacking kiss. " _You_ are a genius." he whispered.

Disney tickets were expensive…but so was Disney _food._ It would also be required more often.

Another quick glance later, Wanda hesitantly replied, "Okay."

The trilling sound of a Skype call being made drifted in from the living room. In the midst of all the grown-up discussion, Lila and Cooper had snuck off to contact their cousin.

"Christy!" Lila cried, as soon as the call went through. But instead of Christy, Bucky's grinning face appeared in the camera.

"One minute, okay?" he said. "Christy! Come out!" he yelled in the direction of Christy's room. "I guess you guys found out?" he added.

Cooper nodded. "Are you coming?"

Bucky scoffed. "'Course. You think I'd miss _this_? My first vacation in seventy years."

Christy came streaking out of her room like a cheetah. "What's up, Uncle Bucky?"

Bucky cocked his head towards the camera. "Your computer was ringing."

Christy grabbed the device. "Hi Lila, hi Cooper."

"Hi…" Cooper started, before Lila burst out with, "We're going to Disney!"

Christy shrieked. "You're coming? Yes! Are the twins gonna come too?"

"Yes. I think so." Cooper said. "They were talking with mom and dad about it. But mom's not gonna come, 'cause Nathaniel's too little."

"Oh." Christy looked mildly disappointed. She liked Aunt Laura. She loved her dad and uncles, but it was nice having another girl around who wasn't a fighter like Aunt Tasha.

"Are we gonna see princesses?" Lila asked.

Cooper looked slightly annoyed, but Christy just shrugged. "If you wanna."

"Okay! 'Cause I wanna see Elsa and Anna and Tiana and…"

* * *

A couple days later, Clint's phone rang. Upon seeing Steve's number, he picked up and answered. "Hey, Steve; what's up."

"Clint…" Steve's voice sounded oddly strained, which sent Clint into a moment of panic.

"You alright there, Cap? Rough night?" he asked, trying to sound calm.

"No, no; nothing like that!" Steve said immediately, guilt creeping into his tone. "Look, it's fine, forget I called."

"Cap, what's eating you?" Clint asked sternly. "Don't even try pulling one over on me; I dealt with you after Manhattan!"

AKA: before Christy, Sam, or Bucky's return. AKA: when Steve was still a flaming wreck who tried to hide it.

Steve sighed. "I don't know what money's worth anymore."

It was a struggle not to burst out laughing, but Steve's borderline dejected tone was enough to make Clint put up a valiant effort.

"Steve, you're in this time for three-plus years and you've just _now_ figured that out?" he asked.

"Don't snark at me, Barton. I looked it up. One of these…park-hopper things?"

"Yeah?"

"$196. Each. And that's _with_ a military discount, otherwise, it'd be more. Wanna know what that was in my time?"

 _No. Not really._ "Yeah…" Clint trailed off uncertainly.

"$2,585.57!"

Clint couldn't help wincing. "That bad, huh?" _Man, inflation really does suck…_

Steve sighed heavily. "Yeah…"

"Look, Steve…why did you wanna do this, again?"

"For Christy…" Steve mumbled.

"Yeah, and for yourself, right? To have a break. Because I can't think of anyone who deserves it more."

"But it feels like such a waste…"

"So…really good memories are a waste? 'Cause that's what you're buying—good memories. Christy's gonna remember this for the rest of her life."

Steve sighed again. "Alright. You're right."

"I'm always right."

"Don't." Steve moaned. "We don't need another Tony Stark. Oh, did you talk to the twins…?"

"Yeah. They wanna go. They also both insisted on paying for their own tickets."

Steve winced. "I'm gonna talk to Stark…see if he can get them some kinda deal without them knowing. They could afford it, but…"

"It's pretty steep." Clint finished.

"Basically. But it'll have to be discreet. They're terrible about letting people buy stuff for them."

"Oh, and you're not?"

Steve's blush could be felt through the phone.

"Laura said they could buy their tickets, but you or I or someone else would buy their meals."

"That should work. I checked some of these restaurants…"

Steve's voice trailed off in a disbelieving decrescendo.

"For the kid, _remember_?" Clint said firmly. "And it's just a week."

"Yeah…" Steve sighed. "One week."

* * *

"No way, Rogers, you're not driving all the way to Florida!" Tony's face was set in a disbelieving gape.

"But air tickets are so expensive…" Steve muttered. At the word "expensive," Tony's face grew animatedly insulted.

"Expensive! What part of _billionaire_ do you not understand?"

"Tony, I'm not gonna keep mooching off you…"

"It's not mooching if I'm giving it to you! Now, I have two choices: my vast wealth could sit in the bank and create _more_ vast wealth, _or_ , I could give it to people I actually care about and let them have a vacation for once in their lives. Let's see, _which_ _one_ shall I pick?"

Despite Tony's heavy sarcasm, Steve didn't miss the sentiment behind the words. It would probably be more of an insult to the billionaire if he _didn't_ accept the offer than if he refused to "cost him" something.

Besides, it _would_ be nice not to have to drive all the way to Florida.

"I'll arrange for you guys to fly out in my plane. Now, what about hotels? I assume you were going to try and pay for that yourself, too?"

"We're not broke, Tony…" Steve tried, but Tony was having none of it.

"Oh, no, I'm making reservations at the Grand Vista. Jarvis, make a note of that."

"Yes, sir." Jarvis replied. "Oh, and Captain Rogers? It's best just not to argue."

Slightly annoyed at being told off by an AI, Steve just sighed.

"He's right." Tony said, slightly smug. "Now, who all is going on this little joy-trip?"

"Me and Christy, Bucky, Sam, Clint and his two older kids, and Natasha—shock of shocks. And the twins."

"So…ten. Okay, that's…three units. Roughly. Maybe four."

"Units?"

"Yeah, uh, like tiny apartments, but at a resort. They usually have two bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen and a sitting area."

"Tony!" Steve cried, exasperated.

"Aw, enjoy yourself for once in your life, Rogers! You deserve it."

 _That's twice I've been told that…_ Steve thought wearily. _Now, could my brain please believe it?_

"Oh, I almost forgot…" he said. "The twins…they wanna pay for their own tickets, but…"

Tony nodded sagely. "Y'know…I think the Avengers all get bonuses this month. And there might be a small transferring error into their accounts. $2000 each. No biggie."

Steve groaned. "Fine. Your money. Your life."

Tony smirked. "I know. And it's fabulous!"

* * *

"Jarvis?" Christy called out.

"Yes, Miss Rogers?" the AI responded promptly, as always.

"Uh…does Uncle Tony like any Disney characters?"

Jarvis was a highly intelligent AI. And even though he was just a program, technically, Tony had done his work. He was capable of almost human-like emotions.

Like amusement, for instance.

"Sir would probably tell you that enjoyment of animated cartoon characters is beneath his dignity. However…I have it on good authority that Sir was very fond of Mickey Mouse as a child."

Christy smirked. "Thanks. What about Aunt Pepper and Mr. Rhodey?"

"Miss Potts is terribly fond of Minnie Mouse, ironically. And Colonel Rhodes…enjoys Star Wars."

"Star Wars is Disney?"

"The Walt Disney Company recently aquired Lucasfilm, the company which produced the Star Wars movies."

Christy nodded. "Okay…good to know. Thanks Jarvis. I can find out what everybody else likes from…everybody else." She sighed. "I wish Uncle Bruce was here."

There was silence for a brief moment. Christy bit her lip and hugged her legs to her chest. "I wish he would come back."

"I happen to know that Dr. Banner is fond of the movie _Lady and the Tramp_." Jarvis said quietly. "When he returns, he will be pleased you thought of him."

"Yeah, you're right…okay, I'll get him something anyway." The girl's wistful expression slowly grew happy again. "I'm going to _Disney World!_ " she whispered. "This is gonna be _awesome_!"

If Jarvis had had a mouth, he would have been smiling. As it was…he felt a soft contentment.

* * *

 **So that's that. Hope you enjoyed Chapter One, even if it was mostly set-up. Next chapter should be up sometime this week, before I head back to school on Saturday.  
**

 **If there's anything you'd like to see the gang do at Disney World, let me know.**

 **Reviews are wonderful things...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note: Hello! Thanks to everyone for all the feedback on last chapter. I'm glad to see that people are actually interested in this story, since I was slightly reticent to post it.**

 **Anyway, this is some more planning, next chapter starts park-going. The Captain America theme song mentioned is from the 1966 Marvel cartoon, and there also exists a hilarious parody version done by How It Should Have Ended. Both are worth checking out if you love Cap ;)**

 **The FastPass system mentioned in this chapter...is NOT the way the current FastPass system works at Walt Disney World. Unfortunately. My family has a distinct loathing for the new system, so in this story/universe, the system remains old-style (with printed pieces of paper that you can get AS MANY OF AS YOU WANT, DANG IT! As opposed to the new system where you can only get three at a time. Boo.)**

* * *

Chapter Two

It was the night before they were leaving and Christy was completely wound-up. She wasn't even running around so much as simply _vibrating_ with energy. Steve, Bucky, and Sam were busy shoving all their luggage in the front living room. Christy had already moved her things out, and now had nothing constructive to distract her.

"She is _never_ gonna get to sleep." Steve muttered.

Bucky shrugged. "At least she's not bouncing off the walls."

"I wish she was—then maybe she'd tire herself out!"

Christy took a flying leap across the living room. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Right, that's it. Fortunately, we have the wonders of modern medicine."

He grabbed Christy's shoulder and gently steered her into one of the floor's bathrooms.

"Are you gonna be able to sleep?" he asked.

Christy shook her head. "I can't calm down! It's too exciting!"

Sam chuckled. "I know, I know. But you're not pulling an all-nighter." He reached into the bathroom cabinet and pulled out a bottle of pills. He fished one tiny, pink pill out of the bottle and broke it neatly in half. "Take this. It's Benadryl—it'll help you get to sleep." he added, when Christy gave him a skeptical look. "What, did you think I was going to poison you?"

Christy shook her head. "I just like to know what I'm putting in my mouth." she said solemnly, before swallowing the pill with some tap water.

Sam rolled his eyes, but he couldn't fault the kid too much. With an adoptive father and several "relatives" that had enhancements, she was probably smart to be a bit wary of taking medicine.

"That should kick in soon and help you relax." he said.

The two ambled back into the living area. Steve raised an eyebrow at Sam.

"Did you show her some calming technique?" he asked, thinking of Bruce's deep-breath exercises or Sam's own "cool-down" methods for after a flashback.

"Nah, I suggested drugs." Sam said, completely deadpan.

" _Drugs_?!"

To save himself from the combined wrath of Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes, Sam immediately yelled out, " _Benadryl_! Like, the stuff you take to stop swelling! It makes you relax and be able to sleep!"

Steve calmed down at that. Bucky looked mildly upset. "You have sleep pills and didn't tell me?"

Bucky had bad nightmares—they all did, but his were, understandably, on another level. They were less frequent than when they'd first found him, but still a regular enough occurrence.

"I didn't think they'd work on you." Sam said, slightly apologetic. "You can try it if you'd like."

Bucky shook his head. "Nah, you're right. With my metabolism, they'd wear off in no time. And they don't do a thing for nightmares."

"So, ah, how long does that stuff take to kick in?" Steve asked, in a blatant attempt at subject change, and also because Christy was currently practicing forward rolls in the space behind the sofa.

Sam smirked. "Twenty minutes. Give or take."

* * *

" _When_ …Captain America throws his mighty shield! All those who chose to oppose his shield must yield! When he's led to a fight and a duel is due…"

Steve gave Clint a death glare. "Ya _had_ to teach her my theme song, Barton. Ya _had_ to."

Christy, Lila, and Cooper were currently on the floor of Tony Stark's very expansive private plane. It had a simple, but elegant layout—almost like someone had ripped out all the economy seats on a normal plane and stuffed a lounge in their place. All the "grown-ups" were sitting in leather armchairs and relaxing, thanks to the wonders of autopilot.

Between the three of them, the kids had a pretty decent collection of action figures. So, naturally, they were all playing "Avengers beat the bad guy."

Clint smiled unapologetically. "Hey, at least you _have_ a theme song! Actually, you even have comics! You have _everything_."

"And they got everything wrong." Steve muttered. "Trust me, I've _read_ those comics."

Bucky snorted. "At least you were a grown man in those things. They turned me into some little kid!"

Sam, Clint, and Wanda all looked like they were trying very hard not to laugh. Pietro didn't even pretend. Natasha smirked.

"It's not anything personal." Steve tried to assure, in his "Captain" voice. But the effect was ruined by a laugh that drowned out half the sentence.

Bucky just gave his best "Winter Soldier scowl" and leaned back with his arms crossed. "When Captain America throws his mighty shield…" he sung under his breath. Steve groaned.

"Boom! Explosion!" Cooper yelled as he moved the Hawkeye action figure over in an exaggerated arc, to imitate a flying arrow. Lila moved a Black Widow figure around in circles, in an imitation of Natasha's kicks and punches.

Wanda frowned. "The poor villain really has no chance…" she muttered. A devious grin snaked across her face. With gentle red tendrils, she reached out and made the Red Skull action figure levitate in the air.

Three sets of eyes suddenly grew to the size of saucers.

"It's the power of the Tesseract!" Christy shrieked. "Red Skull can fly now! But we'll get him! C'mon, team! Avengers, assemble!"

"Black Widow'll kick his butt!" Lila cried.

"And Hawkeye'll shoot his brains out!" Cooper added.

As one, the three began battering away at the Red Skull figure, while Wanda moved it enough to make it pose a challenge.

"Well, we've got the next generation of Avengers lined up for when we all decide to retire…" Natasha said breezily.

"No." Steve said flatly.

Natasha smirked. "Just a thought."

* * *

After about two and a half hours of travel time (during which even Steve admitted that flying to Florida was a much better idea than _driving_ to Florida), Clint landed the plane in Tony's privately-owned airfield. Tony being Tony, he already had a rental car waiting for them.

One car might have been a bad idea for ten people. But this wasn't just _any_ car. Actually, it really wasn't technically a car. It was a big, dark blue, fifteen-passenger van. It was nicely kept and appeared to have been recently waxed, which kept it from looking too strange.

But still…

"That thing looks like the lovechild of a hippie van and a school bus." Sam muttered.

Everyone loaded their stuff in the van and Natasha took the wheel.

"Somebody donate their phone for a GPS." she said. Clint, who had chosen shotgun, ended up voluntolding his phone.

The drive to the resort was mostly spent staring out windows at the copious amounts of cars, palm trees, and billboards.

"I wanna ride that one." Cooper said, pointing to a billboard with an image of a fast-moving car filled with screaming people. The caption proclaimed: _Test Track_.

"Do we get to drive the car?" Pietro asked innocently, though the smirk on his face clashed with his tone.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Not likely."

As the GPS affirmed that they had reached their destination, Natasha turned left onto a road lined with various tropical plants. It led in a winding spiral up to the main building.

"Ooh! They have a swimming pool." Christy said, peering out the window intently. Cooper and Lila followed suit.

"That is _not_ a swimming pool." Bucky muttered to Steve. "That's a swimming _lake_."

Steve nodded. "This place is ritzy." he mumbled back softly. "Maybe too nice for a kid from Brooklyn."

Bucky rolled his eyes. _Shut up, you self-sacrificing punk._ "But isn't that the point of America, _Captain_? That anybody can work their way up from the bottom? I'd say this is exactly the right place for a kid from Brooklyn."

Steve sighed and nodded.

"What about a kid from Sokovia?" Wanda asked.

"Them too." Steve affirmed. "This country was made for immigrants."

Natasha parked the car outside of a large brick building, and went inside for a few minutes. When she came back, she was holding several maps and ten little white cards. "These are our room keys. We're in building 80, right by the giant pool."

All the kids cheered.

After driving over to their building and locating several luggage carts, they hauled everything and everybody up to the second floor, where their rooms were.

"Tony said something about the rooms being interconnected…" Steve said uncertainly.

Natasha nodded. "213, 215, and 217 are all ours. Three rooms. How are we gonna split this up?"

Lila grabbed Christy's arm. "I wanna go with Christy and Wanda."

Natasha looked at Clint and Steve. "We could do girl's side-boy's side."

"You okay with that, baby?" Steve asked Christy.

Christy nodded. "I'll be okay."

"Wanda? You good?" Natasha asked.

Wanda nodded, still a bit shocked at being "requested."

"Okay." Natasha handed over room keys to all the boys. "Have fun." She opened the door to the "girl's" room, and the four of them trooped in.

The room opened into a small hallway with a kitchen on one side and a bedroom and bathroom on the other. Further back was a sitting room with a TV, a door which led out into a balcony, and a master bedroom.

"This is nice…" Christy whispered. Wanda just nodded in mute shock.

 _This place is for rich people…_ she thought self-deprecatingly. _Not for people like me._

Natasha came up beside her. "It's for you." she said, as though she could hear Wanda's thoughts.

"But I don't deserve it…" The words flew out of Wanda's mouth before she could think, betraying her deepest doubts.

"None of us do…" Natasha replied. "Second chances are funny like that. But I've found that the best response is to just take what you're given and not try to figure out if you deserve it or not. 'Cause…it's usually not about that."

Meanwhile, Christy and Lila had dragged their suitcases into the first room. It had two queen-sized beds and a dresser.

"Let's give Wanda one bed and share the other." Christy said.

Lila nodded. "We've shared a bed before, anyway; when you came."

"Did you look in the big bedroom?" Christy asked. Lila shook her head.

"Is it really big?"

"It's huge!" Christy affirmed. "It's got a big bed and a bathtub with jets in it! And Aunt Tasha gets it all to herself."

Wanda finally entered the room, looking a little dazed.

"You get that bed." Christy said, pointing to the one closest to the door. "We'll share this one."

Wanda couldn't help but smile. Christy definitely had good directional skills.

 _I wonder where she learned that from…_ she thought sarcastically, picturing Steve during the last battle with Ultron.

"Okay…" she said, putting her bag on the far bed. Lila looked over at her with excited eyes.

"You wanna go swimming?"

* * *

About an hour or so later, they were all unpacked and lounging around the very nice swimming pool(s!) and Jacuzzi.

"We're probably gonna attract every eligible woman on this resort." Natasha hissed to Wanda, gesturing to the admittedly impressive display of Steve, Bucky, Sam, Pietro, and Clint in bathing suits.

Wanda smirked. "Pietro always attracted girls. I shall have to tell him no dating on vacation."

"What about all the eligible _men_?" Steve tossed back. "Or are you planning to send them off crying?"

Natasha thew her hair back. "You have such little faith in me, Rogers! I don't kill _every_ man I come in contact with! You're still alive, right? Besides, shouldn't you be playing with your daughter?"

Steve's eyes roamed over to where the three kids plus Bucky and Pietro were splashing and diving in the crystal-clear water. Bucky's arm was covered by a realistic-looking "skin" that Tony had developed. Sam and Clint were walking in the direction of the hot tub (and the bar where a baseball game was playing), after Clint had warned his kids to "behave for your uncles and aunt!"

"Yeah, in a minute…" he muttered distractedly.

He walked over to the edge of the pool and tried to act nonchalant as he checked the water depth.

 _5 feet maximum…you can do this, Rogers. It's not gonna drown ya…_

"Dad!" Christy called. "Come swim! We're gonna play water tag!"

Steve clenched his teeth. _It's just_ _ **water**_ _. C'mon you stupid idiot, you're on vacation and your daughter wants you to swim with her. Get in the water! You've done it on missions!_

But his body wouldn't obey his mind. It had been a long time since he'd been in water _not_ out of necessity.

Christy finally seemed to realize that something was wrong. She swam over to the edge of the pool and looked up at him.

"You don't have to swim, Daddy." she said, quiet. Her brow was furrowed in that unnervingly _knowing_ expression of hers.

By now, Bucky, too, had noticed that something was up and swam over. "Y'alright, punk?"

"Fine…" Steve said shortly. "Just…me and bodies of water don't always get on."

Bucky sighed, guilt coursing through him at the knowledge that he was partially responsible for the last time Steve had almost drowned.

Christy pushed herself out of the pool. "Was the water cold?" she asked, looking up at Steve.

It took Steve a second to figure out what she meant…and then he nodded.

"Did it taste like salt? Or…dirt?"

"Dirt and scummy plants." Steve croaked out, grinning a little.

Christy nodded. "This water's warmer and it tastes like chlorine. Wanna come try it?"

Blinking back tears, Steve followed his daughter to the very shallowest part of the pool. She grabbed his hand and together, they walked down the tiled slope that led into the water.

"I like swimming 'cause you feel like nothing can hold you back." Christy said. "You can do flips and dive and lift stuff that's heavy 'cause of buoyancy. I learned that in school. Did you swim as a kid, Dad?"

To his shock, Steve noticed that they were already four feet in and Christy was paddling to keep afloat.

"You've been taking lessons with Sam, haven't you?" he said wryly, taking a deep breath. The water was only up to his chest, after all. He wasn't in any danger of going under without his desire.

Christy shrugged, her legs furiously kicking. "I wanna be a good counselor when I get older. Was I good, Dad?"

Steve smiled. "The best. I'd come see you any day."

Bucky swam towards them. "You better?" he asked lowly.

Steve nodded. "I'll be okay."

"Christy!" Cooper called. "Are we gonna play? Pietro's gonna get Wanda and maybe Aunt Natasha."

Christy nodded and pushed herself through the water like a powered jet. "Comin'!"

Pietro managed to coax Wanda into the water, but not Natasha, who lay sunning herself and watching the chaos with an amused smile.

After establishing that no one (especially Steve) was to get pushed under the water, the game began in earnest. It started off normal but quickly turned into a free-for-all of splashing and diving.

"Got you!" Christy screamed, as she snagged Pietro's arm. The blonde retaliated by grabbing the girl with his other arm and proceeding to hoist her in the air.

What he was _not_ prepared for was for Christy to suddenly go limp in his grip. In a panic, he lowered her down, only for her to tug out of his grip and swim away cackling.

"Never mess with someone trained by the Black Widow!" she called back.

Pietro groaned. Wanda swam up behind him. "Bested by a ten year old? Really, brother, you need to start training again soon."

"I didn't expect her to know how to do that!" Pietro cried.

Wanda just laughed and lunged through the water after Lila, who was swimming a little too slowly for a game of tag…

* * *

"Okay, so do we _have_ a plan?" Sam asked. "'Cause from what I remember, these parks are scarily crowded."

The five "older grown-ups" were gathered around the glass dining room table in Steve, Bucky, and Sam's room like a council of war. The twins and the kids were in front of the TV watching Tangled.

A map of the Magic Kingdom lay spread on the table, the numbers of certain attractions circled in black Sharpie. They might as well have been planning an attack raid on an enemy base.

"We've got the kids' input on what they wanna do." Clint said calmly. "And most of what they wanna do has FastPasses."

Steve frowned. "Explain that thing again?"

"It's a system that lets you bypass the really long lines for rides and wait for a shorter amount of time."

"Sounds kind of…unfair."

Natasha shrugged. "It's not like it's only for some people. _That_ would be unfair. Only thing is, you gotta get 'em fast, before they run out. They only print so many per day."

A strange gleam appeared in Bucky's eye. "What if…?" his eyes drifted over to where Pietro sat on the couch with Cooper and Christy sprawled against him.

"Oh, hell yes!" Sam hissed quietly, ignoring Steve and Clint's twin rebuke of "language!" "It's perfect."

Natasha smirked. "We'll brief him on that later. So, we know our destinations, what's our route for getting there? Go clockwise?"

"We're not just gonna rush." Steve protested.

"We can split up and meet for lunch, and then go from there." Clint said. "You made meal reservations, right?"

"For lunch, yeah." Steve replied, tapping the numbered bullet that read "Tony's Town Square Restaurant". "For dinner…this place looked good. And it didn't say you needed a reservation." He pointed to a number that read "Casey's Corner".

Sam smirked as he read the description. "You _would_ wanna go to an old-fashioned hot dog joint."

"Nothin' wrong with fries and hot dogs." Bucky protested.

"Nah, you're right." Sam agreed.

"I'll second that." Clint said. "But somebody needs to take a picture of the "Tony's" sign for Stark."

"Yeah, and isn't he part Italian anyway?" Steve asked. "I think Howard said something about that."

Natasha shrugged. "Either way, we're totally taking a picture." she leaned back. "You do realize that this is either gonna go really well or really terribly?"

"Nobody invited the pessimist." Bucky snarked.

"Hey, I'm Russian; what do you expect!"

Steve sighed and shook his head. He was excited, honestly. He had good memories of Coney Island as a kid, and this was basically Coney Island times twenty with extra magic.

Never mind Natasha's pessimism. That was just Natasha being Natasha. Tomorrow would be great.

 _So help me, it will be great…_

* * *

 **Can we talk about the fact that my computer wanted to auto correct "Tesseract" to "Actress"?  
**

 **The "no, I suggested drugs" thing actually happened, ironically because my family had just watched CA:TWS. I was _way_ emotionally wound up (because BUCKY!) and my mom told me to take Benadryl so I could sleep, because I had work the next morning. My Dad asked her if she helped me calm down, to which my Mom replied, "No, I suggested drugs." And I swore to work that line into a story somewhere. :)**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed. Next update probably won't be until later next week, because I am headed back to school (AHHHH!) and will be settling in and figuring out my life. Until then...**

 **Reviews are wonderful things...  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Note: Hello again! Thank you to everyone who gave feedback on the last chapter, glad you liked it. I'm having fun re-living my family vacations, especially because Florida is so warm...and where I am is so cold...**

 **Also, with the old FastPass system (which I am pretending is still in place in this story), you had to wait until your one FastPass had expired, or two hours after you got it, to get new ones; whichever came first. That fact is not abundantly clear in this chapter, but there wasn't a good place to stick it in.**

 **This chapter was brought to you courtesy of a snow day. We probably got about a foot or more. Brr. Fun, but brr...**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

Chapter Three

"Okay, so are you clear on the plan?" Clint asked Pietro, who was craning his neck, trying to get a good view of the incoming Magic Kingdom. The group was currently on the ferryboat that shuttled people from the ticket area into the actual park.

"Yes, yes." The blond muttered distractedly. "I take the tickets, I go the machine that says FastPass outside the ride. I get ten little paper tickets. I come back. Easy. Two minutes, at most."

Clint looked like he wanted to contest that statement…and then decided against it.

"He's just nervous 'cause it means you have to hold all the tickets." Natasha elaborated.

Pietro looked mildly irked. "I'm not completely irresponsible, Old Man!"

"I know, I know!" Clint threw up his hands.

Meanwhile, Cooper and Lila were practically hanging over the edge of the boat. Christy stood a few inches back (she was from Brooklyn! She knew how to behave on a ferry!), but all three kids were staring with glued eyes as Cinderella castle came more and more into view.

To be fair, most of the so-called "grown-ups" were behaving no better. Steve practically had the same wide-eyed expression as his daughter and Sam looked like he had when Tony had fixed his wings. Bucky appeared completely calm, but his gaze was as intense as it had ever been on missions, staring down targets.

"Look, Wanda!" Lila said, tugging on the older girl's arm. "It's Disney!"

Wanda laughed. "I know! I see it!" She wasn't outright staring, but she kept sneaking shy looks at the landscape ahead of her. Pietro slung his arm around her shoulders and took up the same furtive glances.

Natasha leaned over to Steve. "Alright. I take it back. This was a good idea."

Steve smirked. "Of course it was—it was mine!"

"Don't get cocky, Rogers!"

"Technically it was the kid's idea…" Sam muttered. Steve sighed in mock exasperation.

"Work with me, huh, Wilson?"

* * *

By the time everyone finally got into the park, it was about 9:30 a.m. They'd made pretty decent time, although it had been murder getting all the non-early risers (mainly Christy, Lila, Bucky, Clint, and Pietro) awake and moving.

But all the exasperation was worth it. The moment they stepped onto Main Street, it was as if an invisible spell dictated that everyone stop and stare.

Tall, old-fashioned replicas of shops and buildings lined either side of the concrete street. Souvenirs peeked out of many of the windows: everything from shining crystal figures to plush stuffed animals. The gleaming white-and-blue Cinderella Castle was the crowning achievement at the head of the boulevard. People were _everywhere_ , rushing to-and-fro.

The group stood huddled under an awning to the side of the Main Street Emporium, trying to get their bearings.

"So…" Clint drawled. "Is this what things looked like in your time, gentlemen?"

Steve looked mildly annoyed. Bucky smirked. "You kiddin'? Brooklyn was never this clean! And shops actually sold things that weren't souvenirs."

Wanda looked around at the old-fashioned street. "But was it really like this?" she asked earnestly.

"There weren't any horse-drawn railcars by the time I was born." Steve said, gesturing to one such contraption being pulled up the street. "But some of this…yeah, it looks pretty familiar. Of course, this is a replica of a smaller town, probably. There were more buildings where I grew up."

"Amount of people feels the same, though." Bucky muttered. "Crowds may look different, but they always feel the same. People pushin' and shovin' and running off to somewhere."

"Alright, so, which FastPass are we going for first?" Steve clarified, since Pietro looked about ready to charge straight down Main Street with no plan whatsoever.

"Space Mountain!"

"Splash Mountain!"

"Thunder Mountain!" Came the cries from three sets of lips.

Wanda smirked. "If it has the word 'mountain,' we are fine, apparently."

Sam pulled out a map. "Look, there's two 'mountains' right next to each other and one clear on the other side of the park. What direction are we going? Or are we gonna split?"

"Let's stick together for now." Clint said. "But hurry and pick something before Speedy Gonzales loses it."

Pietro frowned. "Who is…?"

"A cartoon Mexican mouse that can run extremely fast." Steve explained. "He always tricks the cat."

"Oh. Okay, I'll be him. Can I go now?"

"We're going on Splash Mountain first." Natasha said, in an 'executive decision' voice. "Is that okay?" she asked, giving the kids a look.

Christy and Cooper, who had suggested the other two rides, nodded.

"Okay. And we're going left into Adventureland." She added.

"Why?" Bucky asked.

"Because it's better than standing here talking about it. And…the Pirates of the Caribbean ride is over there."

Bucky shrugged, smirking. "Fair enough." _So apparently the infamous Black Widow likes pirates…not a shock…_

Everyone handed their tickets to Pietro, who took off in a blur of movement.

"I really hope he doesn't knock anyone over…" Sam muttered to Steve.

* * *

When Pietro caught up to them, the kids had gone on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin and they were now getting in line for Pirates of the Caribbean.

They wound their way through the dark, slightly damp ride building and got into the boat. As it pulled off into the mist there suddenly came an eerie whisper…

"Dead men tell no tales…"

…And a faint echo, closer in the boat.

"Clint, so help me, I will strangle you." Natasha hissed, as Clint took it upon himself to mimic the ghostly voice.

"Dead men tell no tales…" Clint hissed again, pushing his luck.

"I mean it, Barton!"

"I don't think Mom would like it if you strangled Dad, Aunt Natasha." Cooper said solemnly. Lila giggled.

Steve twisted his head back (he was sitting in the row ahead of them). "No one is strangling anyone on vacation!"

"Ooh! It's Jack Sparrow!" Christy called out, moving everyone's mind back onto the ride.

"Captain Jack Sparrow!" Cooper corrected.

"Oh, right."

When they got off, all the kids (including the twins) were singing "A Pirate's Life for Me," with varying degrees of accuracy. Meaning that no one knew anything more than the chorus.

After knocking out a few of the short-wait things in Adventureland, like the Tiki Room, they headed up to Frontierland and got on Splash Mountain with their FastPasses.

As they all got down into the loading area, the three kids hung back, like an unspoken pact.

"I am not getting wet!" Christy hissed to Cooper. Cooper nodded vehemently.

"We shoulda got ponchos." he whispered back.

Christy shook her head. "Ponchos cost money. We'll just stay in the back."

Natasha and Bucky (who were observant enough to notice the wet seats) and Sam (who'd been here before) had also hung back.

Steve and Pietro ended up in the very front row. They both got spectacularly wet.

"See, this is why I picked this one first." Natasha said, as they got off. "That way you guys have a chance to dry off while the sun's out."

Steve, meanwhile, was glaring at Bucky while wringing out the bottom of his shirt. "Traitor." he muttered. "You abandoned me to the front row!"

Bucky smirked. "Can't let my arm get wet, now, can I? Might get rusted."

"Rusted! Why I oughta…"

"Dad?" Christy interrupted. "I…I'm hungry."

Steve hurriedly checked his watch. "Alright…it's almost time for our lunch, anyway. What FastPasses next?"

"Space Mountain!" Cooper said firmly. "Oh, or Buzz Lightyear. I wanna ride that one. You get to shoot stuff."

Clint, Natasha, and Bucky all gave each other looks.

"Space Mountain has a mammoth wait time, but we can always do it later." Sam said.

"Shooting stuff might be fun…" Natasha said casually, but there was a dangerous gleam in her eye.

"Okay, so where am I going?" Pietro asked. Clint showed him on the map and he dashed off once more.

Wanda smiled. "He's enjoying this." she said to Bucky, as the group trooped back towards Main Street. "He likes to be helpful and do something...constructive."

Bucky nodded. "Glad he likes it. And I'll bet he's glad to stretch his legs."

"He was always running, even as a child. Never still…that's why, when I saw him…" Wanda trailed off, and then shook herself. "I am sorry. This is supposed to be happy and I am…"

Bucky shook his head. "Don't worry. That's just life. One minute you're fine, next minute you're recalling something terrible in excruciating detail. Or, if you're like me, in flashes and fragments."

Wanda frowned. "It's so terrible, what happened to you."

"Well…" Bucky shrugged. "Yeah. It was. But…it's a little better now." He glanced at Steve, walking near the front of their "pack" and holding Christy's hand. "The people I'm with make all the difference."

Pietro found them and they ate lunch at Tony's Restaurant. Italian food went over well with everyone.

"I sent Stark a picture of the sign." Natasha said, showing her phone around the table. The caption with the picture read "didn't know you were in the restaurant biz, Stark."

The phone beeped with Tony's reply: "that was my fifth cousin on my mother's side. wrong Tony. has absolutely none of my dashing good looks."

Everybody groaned.

Natasha put the phone down and twirled her fork around in her pasta, thinking about the last time she'd eaten Fettuccini Alfredo.

Christy had set up her and Bruce on the Common Floor for a "dinner date."

She sighed. _Bruce…wherever you are…please stay safe. Don't do anything stupid. Come back if you can…it's weird not having you around…oh, alright. I miss you. There, I admit it!_

 _I wish you were here…_

* * *

After lunch, they all got in line for Buzz Lightyear, though not before Pietro ran and got more FastPasses for Space Mountain.

"I wanna sit with Dad." Cooper said firmly. "'Cause he's gonna shoot the best!"

"But I wanna sit with Dad…" Lila said. Natasha grabbed her hand.

"You sit with me; you think I'd let your dad win?"

"Nah, Uncle Bucky's gonna win." Christy said. "He's the best at shooting with a gun. Uncle Clint uses arrows."

Cooper frowned. "Nuh-uh! Dad'll win!"

"No, Uncle Bucky!"

"What about me?" Steve asked, fake-wounded.

Christy sighed and said with a "duh" tone, "You're not a sniper!"

"Aunt Tasha will win. Girls always win!" Lila protested.

"Is this what a racehorse feels like?" Clint quipped.

"Just for that, I will win!" Pietro declared.

"You guys do know there's tips on what targets to hit online…" Sam said casually, looking up from where he and Wanda were bent over his phone.

There was a mad scramble as everyone started pulling out phones and googling "tips for Buzz Lightyear ride Walt Disney World".

As everybody clambered into cars, Bucky frowned down at the tiny plastic gun. "It doesn't even move!" he said to Steve, exasperated. "How am I supposed to position this this thing right if it doesn't move?"

Steve shrugged and got in his own car with Sam. "You'll think of something, I'm sure."

"Is this payback for ditchin' you in the front car to get wet?"

Steve smirked. "Now _why_ would I do that?"

"Punk." Bucky growled, moving the fake gun experimentally as the car moved into the first room.

Christy was having a terrible time aiming, so Bucky occasionally would reach over and give her a hand (literally). Clint and Natasha appeared to be doing the same thing with Lila and Cooper.

"These guns are terrible." Natasha said soothingly to Lila, who was getting frustrated at her low score. "I'll teach you how to use a real one if your mom says yes."

Clint gave a disbelieving snort in the car in front of them. "That'll be the day." he muttered. "Nah, make sure to aim below the target, bud." he reminded, as Cooper feverishly pressed the gun's "trigger". "It's just like archery."

At the ride's end, everyone gathered around their pictures and the scoreboard.

No one was really surprised that the three snipers took the lead. Who won was slightly surprising, however.

"Oh, come on!" Clint cried.

"Nah, I swear! Look at the screen!" Bucky insisted. Sure enough, his picture bore the caption, 'Galactic Hero: 999,999.'"

"Told you he'd win." Christy said to Cooper. Cooper looked slightly put-out.

Natasha came in second with 990,000. Clint was barely in third with 987,865.

"Alright, so we've established that you all can shoot." Sam said. "What's our FastPass time?"

"3:30." Pietro said.

"Which is now." Steve added. As the group rushed over in that ride's direction, Steve bumped Bucky's shoulder. "Nice shooting, jerk."

Bucky just grinned.

* * *

After Space Mountain (which was dubbed awesome by everyone, especially Pietro), and the obtaining of FastPasses for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, the group split up. Lila and Cooper wanted to ride Astro Orbiters, so Clint and Natasha went with them. They agreed to meet up at the toy kiosk by the Tomorrowland Transit Authority after they got of the ride.

That meant everyone else had about forty minutes to kill. Pietro and Wanda wanted to just wander a bit and look at everything, so the siblings went off on their own.

"What's that giant warehouse-looking thing?" Christy asked.

Sam consulted the map. "The Carrousel of Progress…oh, yeah, I remember that! It's like a show, and they take you through how technology changed over the decades. It was kinda nice."

"Sounds like something I coulda used." Steve muttered. "Wanna take a look?"

Everyone nodded assent, so they went into the building.

"Man, this place is dead." Sam said quietly. Only a few other people sat inside the room, which had a stage at the front, covered by a thick curtain.

The door closed and the curtain on the stage opened. A recording gave an explanation about the history of the show, and then the whole theatre moved to the right.

As soon as the stage came in view, Steve and Bucky couldn't help but _stare_.

"Looking more familiar?" Sam muttered.

"Little old fashioned." Steve whispered back. "But…not by much…" He gave a heaving sigh as the animatronics began to move and speak.

 _"What time is it? Oh, right around the turn of the century…and believe me, things couldn't get any better than they are right now!"_

"Lies…" Christy said, giggling. Steve rolled his eyes and looped his arm around her shoulders.

 _"Yes, sir; buildings are towering now as high as twenty stories!"_

"Ooh, so high." Sam said sarcastically.

 _"…_ _And we can travel from New York to California in less than seven days!"_

"It really took that long to fly to California?" Christy said, startled.

"Fly?" Bucky muttered. "Who said anything about flying? He means by train."

"Oh…right." Christy looked thoughtful. "Like in the movies."

When the room turned for the second time, though, things got even more familiar for the men out of time.

"I swear to God, we had that icebox." Bucky hissed to Steve. "Please tell me I'm right…"

Memories were still a bit of a gamble for him. Most of his early life, he could remember fairly well, but there were gaps and pieces still missing.

"You did!" Steve said. "I remember it! We'd come home from school and go looking for a snack, and your Ma would always shoo us out to go play."

"And the lights…" Bucky frowned up at the electric wires hanging from the ceiling. "We had those…"

"Us too." Steve whispered.

 _"Y'know that pilot fella, Charles Lindburgh? He's about to fly a single-wing airplane all the way across the Atlantic! Ha-ha, he's never gonna make it…"_

"Yes he did." Christy insisted quietly. "I read about it in school."

"I read about it in the papers." Steve said, grinning.

"What papers?" Christy asked, fake-confused.

" _News_ papers." Steve elaborated.

"What's a newspaper?"

Steve rolled his eyes.

As they got out of the show and started to amble around Tomorrowland, Christy tapped Steve's arm. "Dad?"

"Yeah, baby?"

"Would…would you go back? If there was a time machine and everything would work out…would you go?"

Christy's giant blue eyes looked even bigger and more anxious in the sunlight.

Steve let out a sigh.

"I don't…think so." he said slowly. "So much of my life then…it wasn't going anywhere. Bucky was gone, my Ma was gone…"

"You could have married Aunt Peggy." Christy said quietly.

"Yeah…I could have." Despite everything, there was still an ache in Steve's chest at that regret. "I could have. But…if I went back, there'd be one big thing missing."

"Who? Uncle Bucky?"

"Well, yes, him; but also…you." Steve gently smoothed his hand over his daughter's hair. "There'd be no Christy. And I couldn't have that, now, could I?"

"Guess not…"

"I _know_ not. Look, I miss the past, no mistake. Everything really, _really_ changed. But…I live here now. And all things considered…it's not so bad."

* * *

They all met up and got snacks, before heading up to Fantasyland. Their FastPasses for Thunder Mountain weren't until later.

After walking around for a bit to get a sense of everything, they came to a building labeled "Princess Fairytale Hall."

"Dad, Dad, they've got Elsa!" Lila shrieked. "I wanna see Elsa!"

"Her and five million other people…" Natasha whispered to Clint, jerking her head at the wait time. It was over an hour.

Clint winced. "How about…we come back later, while everybody's at the parade?"

Lila sniffed a bit. "But…but I wanna see the parade, too."

Clint shut his eyes for a minute. "Okay, maybe before the parade. You guys can stake out a spot to watch it."

"That sounds fine." Steve said calmly, trying to help Clint out.

Christy, meanwhile, was staring up at the Fairytale Hall. "They have Cinderella…" she whispered quietly.

Steve heard the sound immediately. "Wanna go now?" he asked. "The wait time's short."

Christy just smiled a little. "Okay…"

"We're gonna get in line. She wants to see Cinderella." Steve said to the group at large. "Wanna meet back at the Carrousel in an hour, and go get dinner?"

Everyone nodded…except for Wanda.

"May…may I come?" she asked shyly. Pietro's eyebrows shot up. "I…I saw the movie, when I was little. I…"

Steve didn't even hesitate. "Sure, c'mon."

The three of them got in line. Lila looked back at Clint.

"Can we go on It's a Small World?"

"Nah, Peter Pan!" Cooper said. "We gotta go there!"

"Small World's a shorter wait time." Natasha said. "Unless you want to stand in line for 70 minutes, or try your luck on that Mine Train ride we saw."

Cooper shook his head firmly. He was generally a patient boy, but over an hour of waiting in line would never be his first pick. "Small World is fine…"

* * *

Nothing in the world could top the look on Christy's face when she finally saw Cinderella. Steve was suddenly grateful for modern phones, because he could take about fifty pictures at once.

"Well, hello, and what's your name?" "Cinderella" asked. Steve couldn't help but be impressed by all the character actors. They really had all the mannerisms down.

Christy took a deep breath. "I'm…I'm Christy. And…and this is my cousin Wanda."

Wanda couldn't help smiling—yes, she was twenty, and yes, maybe it was silly, but for a moment, she was five years old again, watching _Cinderella_ on her family's beat-up TV, ignoring Pietro's pleas that they watch something else.

"It's so lovely to meet you both. Now, would you like a picture?"

"Dad's probably taken a bunch already." Christy muttered as the two of them got into position.

Just as they left, Christy gave "Cinderella" a giant hug and said, "You're my favorite princess."

"Oh, and why's that, sweetie?"

"Because…because my mom died, too. And my first dad. But I got adopted with no evil stepmother, so I'm okay now. But…you won. You got a prince. So I'll win at life, too."

The young woman smiled and Steve caught a glimpse of tears in her eyes. "Thank you, sweetheart. And yes, you will. You can come back and see me anytime."

The three of them walked out of the room, Christy smiling bright enough to power the whole park.

* * *

It was 6:45 when they got on Thunder Mountain, and everyone knew it was about time to be getting dinner. But there wouldn't be enough time to get dinner and make the FastPass, so they went on the ride first. It had a fun, Old West mine train theme, with plenty of dips and turns.

It was a great ride, and Steve was fully enjoying it…except for one small problem.

"It's a kiddie ride!"

The cry of complaint came from the teenage girl in the seat in front of him and Christy. By her accent, she was British.

"The one in Paris is so much better!"

It wasn't just one or two comments, oh no. The girl simply would not be quiet!

Christy made a tiny noise of complaint, not even loud enough to be heard over the ride. But Steve heard it.

People tended to forget that Steve Rogers had once gotten into a fight because someone hadn't been quiet during a newsreel.

And woe betide anyone who ruined anything for his daughter!

"Hey, Buck!" he called behind him, to where Bucky and Sam sat. From his quick glance back, he could see a scowl on Bucky's face, and knew that the man's enhanced hearing had picked up on the complainer. "Whaddya think of this ride?"

"It's great!" Bucky bawled back. "Fantastic! _Way_ better than the one in Paris!"

"Yeah, dunno what anyone could possibly be complaining about!"

The girl turned around, startled and angry, but one look at Steve and Bucky's deadpan, stoic faces, and she started to turn back.

"Enjoy the ride." Steve said calmly.

Everything was much more enjoyable after that.

* * *

They ate dinner at Casey's Corner, stuffing their hungry stomachs with hot dogs, fries, and soda, and then staked out good seats for the evening shows. Clint took Lila back to see Elsa, and everyone else stayed put, wandering around Main Street and getting ice cream or other treats.

Shockingly, everything worked out. They were all able to see the parade, with its gorgeous, lit-up floats.

Natasha couldn't resist at the end, though. "Shoulda brought the suit, Rogers." she joked, as the last float, an American-themed one with a huge flag and a bald eagle, wound its way around.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Romanoff." Steve said, rolling his eyes.

"Seriously, man, you'd fit right in." Sam added, grinning.

Steve just gave a long-suffering sigh as Bucky messed up his hair, like the old days.

Thankfully, they'd remembered to bring noise-cancelling earplugs for the fireworks. The twins were fine, but all the other adults still had issues with loud noises that could resemble guns.

Still, they could see all the colors. And they were beautiful.

 _Star light, star bright_

 _First star I see tonight_

 _I wish I may, I wish I might_

 _Have the wish, I wish tonight_

 _We'll make a wish,_

 _And do as dreamers do…_

 _And all your wishes…_

 _Come true…_

Christy sighed. _That's not true…_ she couldn't help but think. _Wishes_ _ **don't**_ _always come true, no matter how nice you are or how much you want them to…_

She looked around at her family, though. Her crazy, unconventional family; with all their myriad of issues, fears, loves, and joys.

 _Wishes don't always come true…but sometimes…they do._

"I wish I may, I wish I might…" she sung softly, her voice raised in a promise.

She would keep dreaming, no matter what.

* * *

 **The "it's a kiddie ride" thing happened when my family went to Disney World back in August. Sadly, I did not have the guts to say anything like Steve and Bucky did. But really, when you are ON A RIDE, you shouldn't be complaining about said ride! And it is the Magic Kingdom, after all, not the park with the most thrills.**

 **I realize that I didn't get everything at Magic Kingdom in this chapter in detail, but really, there is so much at this park, it's insane. I tried to cram in most of my favorites (and hopefully yours, too!) even if just in passing.**

 **Next chapter should be up sometime this coming week. I'm trying to write as quickly as I can, before projects start being due. We'll see how that goes. Until then...**

 **Reviews are wonderful things!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone! Finally got this down and posted after a fast-moving week. Hope you all enjoy. Hollywood Studios (I still remember when it was called MGM Studios) is probably my favorite Disney park, so I had a lot of fun writing this chapter.**

* * *

Chapter Four

"Christy? Lila? Time to get up." Wanda said, gently shaking both girls.

Lila scrunched into a tiny ball. Christy rolled over and moaned, "Fi' mo' mini's, Dad!"

 _Was that supposed to be English?_ Wanda wondered. Out loud, she just said, "Do I sound like your father, _mače_?

Christy moaned again, a noise that Wanda took to mean, "no, but I don't care."

"Come on…don't you want to ride roller coasters and eat sugar?" she said coaxingly.

Lila sat up and yawned. "But why do we have to get up so _early_?"

"Eight o'clock is not early!"

"Yes it is." Christy grumbled, before letting out a sound like a dying animal as she stretched. "Okay, I'm _up_." she said grumpily.

Wanda smirked at the pair. "I will leave you to put on clothes…and I will know if you go back to sleep."

Listening to the muttered assurances that they would get dressed, she left the room. Natasha was sitting in one of the armchairs, drinking coffee.

"They up?" she asked.

Wanda nodded. "Mostly. They were not as bad to wake up as Pietro."

Natasha grinned. "Clint's terrible about getting up, unless there's a mission. Barnes hates it, too. Although that might be because he's made it his goal to fight regimentation as much as he can, after being a soldier."

"But Steve still wakes up early…and Sam." Wanda countered, puzzled.

Natasha shrugged. "Any fighting they did, they did of their own free will. Order and structure doesn't have such a terrible meaning for them."

Wanda looked thoughtful. "Pietro would never get up on time, at the base. At first, Strucker was angry…and then, he just gave up trying to make Pietro stop."

"Everybody fights back differently." Natasha said softly. "And oftentimes, it's the most calm, quiet ones that you need to watch out for."

Any more weighty conversation was put on hold as two yawning girls came tumbling out of the bedroom, asking about breakfast.

* * *

As the tram pulled up to the front gate of Hollywood Studios, everybody worked their way through the line to get in.

"First FastPass has _got_ to be Midway Mania." Clint said firmly. "It's newest and it has a forever line, from what I read. We get those first, and then we can go from there."

Pietro nodded and studied the map someone had grabbed like he was preparing for a test.

"What is midway?" Wanda asked quietly.

"It was an area at a fair, like an amusement park, sorta, that had games and shows and other things." Steve answered.

"This midway is another target game." Sam added. "Like the Buzz Lightyear one yesterday."

"And I shall have my revenge." Natasha muttered spookily, giving Bucky an over-the-top glare.

Bucky smirked. "Whatever makes ya feel better, doll."

"Call me that again and I will bust your head open, Barnes."

"Yes, ma'am." Bucky said quickly.

"We're doing Star Wars, right?" Cooper said. "We have to!"

Clint nodded. "Of course!"

"And the really fast roller coaster." Lila added.

"Rockin' Roller Coaster." Christy supplied. "And Tower of Terror."

Lila looked slightly perturbed. "Why is it called Tower of Terror? Is it scary?"

Christy shrugged. "A little, I guess. But don't worry. I'll protect you. And…" she lowered her voice to a whisper, "…your dad's an Avenger! So he'll keep you safe."

Lila looked slightly less afraid at that. "Okay."

They got inside the park and Pietro dashed off like a speeding bullet. Everyone else crowded to the side of the street and looked around at the décor. It had shops and billboards a bit like Main Street at the Magic Kingdom, but this was set up to look like Old Hollywood.

"It's like the Twilight Zone." Steve muttered. At Sam's look, he added, "I watched it after I woke up. Weird, but some of them were pretty interesting."

Pietro came skidding back, and the group started to look around for a ride that didn't have an insanely long line.

"Dad, Dad, nobody's over there!" Christy said, pointing to a large, Chinese-looking building with a very empty ride queue.

"'The Great Movie Ride'." Steve read, and then shrugged. "Looks good to me."

They entered into the waiting area for the ride, which was crammed with props from old movies and decorated like Grauman's Chinese Theater, and wound their way through an area set up like a theater with no seats, a screen playing old trailers for classic movies.

"We missed a lot…" Bucky whispered to Steve. But he looked pretty excited.

Steve grinned. Bucky had always loved movies. He had, as well—they were the one constant chance to leave reality behind back then— but Bucky had always been the one to suggest going to see a movie.

"Hey, remember when we used to hide in the theater after a show and stay there all day without paying?" he asked.

"You did _what_?" Sam sputtered. He wasn't the only one to look slightly shocked.

"Man, never knew ya had it in ya, Cap." Clint joked. All the kids looked extremely interested.

"I remember a little." Bucky replied. He smirked. "I remember the one time we got caught! I couldn't sit right for a week after my Ma got through with me."

"My Ma just sorta stared at me with that really bad disapproving face she had…" Steve said, his voice trailed off in memory.

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Well, now we know where you inherited that look from."

"But why didn't you just pay for the movie, Uncle Steve?" Cooper asked.

Steve coughed uncomfortably.

"'Cause he didn't have money!" Christy said, rushing to her dad's defense. "It was the Depression!"

"Actually this was before the Depression." Steve clarified. "Back when we were kids. I'm not saying it was right. But we were both poor and it was a good way to get free entertainment."

"It is a good way." Wanda said mysteriously. Pietro had a cheeky grin on his face.

Clint rolled his eyes. "As your one-third, quasi-official guardian, I have to warn you that trying that sort of thing now and in America will get you kicked out of the theater."

"We won't do it." Pietro said innocently, though the grin was still firmly in place.

"You better not, brat."

The ride was a success. Everyone oohed and ahhed over the impressive animatronics displays as each room showcased a different classic movie or genre.

"Is this what New York looks like?" Lila whispered suspiciously to Christy, as their car wound through the "gangster movie" section.

"Depends on the neighborhood." Christy whispered back. "Not where I live, it doesn't!"

"I remember him." Bucky said, pointing to the animatronic of James Cagney.

"You wanted to _be_ him." Steve elaborated. "You used to practice the scowl."

Bucky shrugged. "Already had the accent."

"Can I be him?" Pietro muttered, eyes flashing with excitement.

"Stick with superheroing, kid, the world already has enough gangsters." Clint said softly.

The Indiana Jones room went over well with the kids (and the twins).

"You two _have_ to see it." Christy said to Wanda and Pietro. "It's the best! The bad guy's face melts off!"

Steve winced slightly. "That's the only thing you took from that movie?"

"That, and 'don't mess with powerful things you don't understand'. And the chase scenes were cool."

Steve sighed. "Alright, that works."

* * *

After the ride, everyone agreed to walk down towards the area where Tower of Terror and Rockin' Roller Coaster were, since the hour limit between FastPasses was almost up.

Pietro ran off for Rockin' Roller Coaster passes. Lila pointed to a sign.

"Dad, they have a Beauty and the Beast show!"

Clint checked his phone. "Uh…it's eleven now, Li. The show just started. Next one's at…" he checked the show times. "Two. Why don't we try Tower of Terror first?"

Pietro came streaking back. "FastPasses at 3:25." he said, not sounding the least bit out of breath.

"We might as well do Tower of Terror now, the wait time's not so bad, for some reason." Sam said. The sign read forty-five minutes.

"Unless it's a cop-out and they haven't changed the wait time yet." Natasha muttered, but everyone trooped over towards the ride anyway.

While in line, they were able to use the magic of Google and smartphones to make sure everyone was decently acquainted with The Twilight Zone show.

"Dah-da-dah-da, dah-da-dah-da…" Christy vocalized creepily, while Cooper, trying to sound grown up, said, "You have just been transported…to the Twilight Zone!"

"Dah-dun-duuuun!" Lila cried.

"Wrong song!" Cooper protested. Lila stuck out her tongue.

"Behave, guys." Clint warned. "Don't make me call your mom."

Pietro shifted. _"I hate waiting."_ he sent to Wanda.

 _"_ _Behave."_ Wanda shot back. _"You are twenty years old!"_

 _"_ _I still hate waiting."_

By the time they finally got strapped into their seats in the creepy, dimly-lit "elevators," everyone was more than ready for the ride.

Bucky had made it a general rule not to ask what any of these rides were. He liked surprises—as long as they didn't involve punishment or torture. And there'd been none of _those_ types of surprises since HYDRA fell.

So he was unprepared when the ride suddenly jerked them down in a breath-taking (literally) free-fall and up again. He shot Steve, who was sitting next to him, a look. "Is this revenge for the Cyclone, _again_?"

Steve grinned so hard, it almost looked painful. "Now _why_ would I do that, pal?"

Bucky growled…and the growl quickly turned into a scream as the ride plunged down again.

Everyone was screaming; even Natasha was giving little yelps that sent Clint into fits of laughter…which quickly turned back to screams.

"Can we do that again?" Wanda asked, as they stumbled out into the brightly-lit Florida sun.

"Please? Please!" Pietro added. "It was so fast!"

Steve laughed. "Later, alright?" he glanced at his watch; it was a little after twelve. "Let's get lunch."

* * *

"Okay, I want American citizenship!" Pietro said, gesturing at the food piled on the round plastic-wood table.

Wanda shot her twin an incredulous look.

"Uh…okay… _why_?" Clint asked.

"Because!" Pietro declared, holding up the absolutely enormous turkey leg in his hand, "Any country with food this big has to be worth citizenship!"

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Idiot." she muttered fondly.

"You want to change your citizenship…because of _food_?" Christy asked, shaking her head.

"Yes. That is problem?"

"Why don't ya sleep on the idea?" Steve said, smiling a little.

"But how do I sleep on an idea?"

"It means 'think about it'." Natasha clarified.

"Oh. I hate English."

Lila giggled. "You hate English but you wanna be American?"

"A joke, okay? I like my county, my real country! I just…appreciate other countries…especially if they have food the size of my head!"

"Or food in general." Wanda added, a tiny touch of somberness creeping into her voice.

All the "adults" gave each other looks. True, Pietro was just messing around, but hunger was probably something the twins had good experience with.

"Well." Sam said, breaking the spell. "Nobody's going hungry here."

"Amen to that." Clint muttered, taking another bite out of his turkey leg.

* * *

After eating, Pietro raced over for StarTours passes while everyone got into place for the Beauty and the Beast show. It was only half an hour, but it was well done, with good acting and nice costume displays.

When the show ended at 2:30, they decided to go over to the StarTours area anyway, because Pietro had mentioned that the line was uncommonly short.

Sure enough, the wait time sat hovered at 15 minutes.

"What is this?" Sam muttered to Clint. "How is a ride this popular this not crowded?"

Clint shrugged as they all walked through the ride queue. "You're complaining?"

"Someone did a Jedi mind trick on the ride operators." Natasha said slyly. "I vote Wanda."

Wanda, upon hearing her name, looked back abruptly. "I didn't do anything! What's a Jedi mind trick?"

"In the movie, the Jedi have…special powers." Clint explained. "One of them is the power of suggestion. They can basically will people into listening to them, if people are weak-minded."

"I'mma start calling you Jedi Mind Trick." Sam joked.

Wanda groaned.

Unfortunately, the lines to get into the ride area were a bit longer than the line to get up there. Still, it wasn't too bad.

When the ride started and Darth Vader appeared, all three kids sat at near-attention, fully engrossed in the plot.

 _"_ _We know you have this rebel spy on board_. _"_ Vader intoned, and the image of somebody on the ride, not part of their group, flashed on the screen.

"What?! They pick a spy?!" Christy said. "I wanna be the rebel spy!"

"Me too!" Cooper cried, and Lila chimed in with, "Me three."

"I'm good." Natasha muttered to Clint, who smirked.

The ride jerked about as it imitated a ship flying through difficult terrain, being chased by the Empire, until it at last reached the safety of the Rebel Base.

 _"_ _We're grateful you made it—you are all heroes of the rebellion!"_

As the ride ceased movement and the lights turned on, Christy said immediately, "We have to do this again. I wanna be the rebel spy!"

"No, three times!" Cooper said. "One for me, one for you, one for Lila!"

"We gotta do it!" Christy said again, facing Steve. "Please, Dad?"

Steve laughed. "Well, we'll try."

As they looked around the gift shop, nobody noticed Natasha sneaking off to the register. Everybody, adults included, were interested in the build-your-own lightsaber area.

"Bucky, why in the world do you want a plastic sword when you have actual weapons at the Tower?" Steve hissed.

Bucky just grinned. "Because I do, punk. I need a reason?"

Steve just shook his head in fond exasperation. "No, not really."

"I'll get you one."

"Buck, what am I gonna do with a lightsaber?!"

In the end, it was three kids, two twins, Bucky, and Sam who ended up with lightsabers. Clint and Steve managed to restrain themselves (though only just).

After they paid, Natasha joined them outside the gift shop.

"Where were you?" Steve asked.

Natasha just pulled out three small, dark blue t-shirts from a bag. "For you three." she said to the kids. "Because the best spies are the ones that don't get caught."

Each t-shirt bore the message, in big lettering, "I am the Rebel Spy".

"Ooh! I love it!" Christy said.

"Thanks, Aunt Tasha." Cooper said.

Lila smiled at the shirt, her brown eyes huge. "Thank you!"

"Thanks, Tasha." Clint added softly.

"You didn't have to do that." Steve said.

Natasha shrugged. "They're kids. And this is the place where dreams come true." She smiled a bit. "I wanted them to know that sometimes that actually happens."

* * *

After getting over to the Rockin' Roller Coaster and just making their FastPasses, they wound through the ride queue and made it into the tiny, three person seats. Sam elected to be the odd one out.

Clint leaned back to where Pietro and Wanda sat. Pietro was practically vibrating with excitement. "Ready?" he asked.

The blonde just nodded. Wanda smiled. "He is going to explode."

The car suddenly jerked forward and Clint was rewarded with the sound of a squawking scream coming from behind him.

Of course, the ride went over well enough with everyone.

"I've changed my mind." Bucky said, a slightly stunned grin on his face. " _That_ was revenge for the Cyclone."

Steve rolled his eyes. "I'm not that vengeful!"

"I think I got whiplash." Natasha muttered, cracking her neck.

"Aw, you're all getting soft in your old age!" Sam joked.

"Age is relative, I'm technically younger than you." Steve countered.

"So…where are we going?" Wanda asked.

"What time are Midway Mania FastPasses for?" Clint asked Pietro.

"7:30." the blond replied.

"And dinner's at…?"

"5:30." Steve replied.

"So we got…an hour or so to kill. Any ideas?"

Christy shot Cooper a look. "Dun-da-dun-dun…"

"Dun-dah-dun!"

"I don't speak music…" Wanda quipped.

Clint grinned. "Indiana Jones it is."

* * *

"I'm telling you, it's the hat!" Clint insisted, settling a newly-purchased brown fedora on his head, tilted slightly to one side.

Cooper cocked his head. "I see it."

"I don't." Natasha said, deadpan.

Clint hmphed. "Well, I see it! I definitely look like Indiana Jones. Which is why I got picked!"

"To be a screaming extra…" Sam pointed out.

The Indiana Jones "Epic Stunt Spectacular" recreated a few of the key action scenes from Raiders of the Lost Ark. And, the show also recruited people from the audience to play "extras". Clint had somehow gotten picked.

"I liked the explosions…" Christy said. "And the part where they ran away from the bad guys in the market. It was just like the movie!"

"Sure you don't wanna be a spy?" Steve teased.

Christy shook her head. "Nah, cause I know real spies can actually die. Movie spies don't die cause they're heroes. I wanna help all the real spies and heroes who come back messed up. _That's_ an adventure!"

Sam grinned. "I taught her well…"

"'Course…I might have to fight sometime. And…that's okay, too. But only 'cause the bad guys are being extra bad."

Steve sighed. "And y'know…I can't even be upset."

* * *

They ate dinner at a place called The Brown Derby, a replica of an actual restaurant that had catered to some of the greatest stars in Hollywood.

"I feel like I should be wearing a suit…" Steve said to Natasha. The twins had looks on their faces that indicated they were thinking along the same line.

"Your money's as good as anyone in a suit's is." Natasha said, loud enough for the twins to hear. "Besides, nobody's dressed up."

Steve nodded. "I know…"

"I wish I had my Cinderella dress." Christy said. "Then I'd really look pretty."

And suddenly, all of Steve's self-consciousness was forgotten.

" _You_ look _gorgeous_." he said, smoothing her hair. "Princess Christy. Any one'a those guys," he gestured to the wall, covered in drawn caricatures of Hollywood stars, "would _kill_ for a chance to have dinner with you."

Christy beamed. Her t-shirt and jean shorts vanished and suddenly, in her mind's eye, she could almost see herself in a beautiful dress.

In that moment, safe in her dad's love, she really was a princess.

* * *

"None of you are allowed to ride together!" Steve warned Natasha, Bucky, and Clint, as they wound through the whimsically set up ride queue.

The Toy Story Midway Mania was decorated with oversized versions of children's toys and games. Lila, Christy, and Cooper were currently trying to spot which toys they either knew or owned.

"Yeah, and don't break the ride, either." Sam echoed. "It's not like the other one. You're pulling these little strings to operate the ride guns."

"I still plan to win this time." Clint said.

"Nah, I'll leave you all in the dust." Bucky bragged.

Natasha smirked. "Boys. You're so cute."

Wanda rolled her eyes. "Now, I want to win." she muttered to Pietro in Sokovian.

Her twin shrugged. "Manipulate the gun?"

"No, someone will see. Otherwise, I would. It's not cheating, it's using my abilities!"

They all piled into the ride cars and got into position.

"Oh, great, this thing _is_ flimsy." Bucky said, as he got in a car with Sam. "Good thing I'm right-handed."

Sam nodded. "Please. Promise me…"

"Yeah, yeah; I'm not gonna break it. Where's Steve's lecture? He's got super muscles!"

"Steve already got his lecture, now…"

Sam was cut off mid-sentence as the car lurched crazily into the ride tunnel.

The ride went by fast. The kids did a lot better at aiming, mostly because the guns were in better shape and could actually be maneuvered. And nobody broke anything (thankfully).

"I won!" Cooper said excitedly, his normally calm face flush with excitement.

"Yeah, against me and Lila." Christy corrected. Cooper gave her a glare. "Okay, okay; jeez!"

Meanwhile, the three snipers had converged together.

"945,345." Clint started.

Bucky scowled. "928,945."

"Hah!" Clint crowed, exchanging a high-five with Cooper. "Barton's rule!"

"993,098." Natasha said calmly.

Everyone was quiet for a moment.

"Girls rule and boys drool…" Lila sang softly. Christy giggled.

"I had to pull slow because of the arm!" Bucky said, exasperated.

Natasha smiled. "Whatever makes you feel better."

Bucky groaned. "I suppose I deserved that."

"Okay, where next?" Steve said quickly. "It's 8:15. We can watch fireworks, or we can ride more rides."

"StarTours…" Christy said, in a fake whisper.

"Yeah, we gotta be the rebel spy!" Lila chimed in.

All the "grown-ups" shrugged. "I have no objections to Star Wars." Sam said.

Steve grinned. "StarTours it is."

* * *

Meanwhile, back in Manhattan, Tony was in the midst of designing the training gym for the new Avengers base.

"Tony?" a voice called, as footsteps clacked through the lab. It was Pepper, who had gotten back a few days ago.

Needless to say, a few interesting things that had happened in her absence had been… _discussed_.

Tony leaned back and stretched his arms out. "Yeah, Pep?"

"Tony, I think you should come down to the Common Floor."

"Pepper, I swear I ate this morning…"

Pepper looked unimpressed. "First of all, that does little to encourage me since it is now six in the evening. Second, there's someone here to see you."

Tony sighed and started over to the staircase. "Who, Coulson?"

"No…just go see."

"I don't see why you can't just…" Tony started. But the sentence never was finished.

A man of average height with wavy, dark-brown hair and a deep tan sat on one of the Common Floor sofas. He looked relived, embarrassed, guilty, and pleased, all at once.

"Bruce?" Tony said quietly, shocked. This was definitely _not_ who he'd been expecting.

Bruce stood up. "Tony, I know I've got a lot of explaining to do…"

"Don't care!" Tony cried briskly. "Jarvis, where's the champagne? This calls for champagne!"

"Jarvis?" Bruce asked, startled. Last he knew, Jarvis was effectively "dead".

"Oh, yeah, Vision sorta helped me put Jarvis back together." Tony said, rifling around at the bar.

Bruce shook his head.

 _Tony will always be Tony…_

"So, uh, where is everybody?" he questioned. "Feels…weird."

Tony grinned. "Rogers decided to be the All-American poster child and take his pack to Disney World. Legolas took two of his kids, and the Wonder Twins went, too."

"Wait, Wonder _Twins_? The kid's okay?"

"Yeah, uh, Dr. Cho was able to work things out with the cradle. He's still sorta in recovery mode, but better. And…they don't completely hate my guts anymore."

Bruce nodded.

"And…Natasha?" he asked hesitantly.

"Oh, she went too. Rogers talked her into it."

"Oh." Bruce suddenly felt very small and deflated. He'd rehearsed a dozen times in his head what he would say to Natasha, and suddenly…

 _Well, you're the one who ran off first_. He thought bitterly. _It's not like she was obligated to wait around for you…_

Tony brought over champagne, a devious smile on his face. "I have a fabulous idea."

"Oh, no…" Bruce said faintly.

 _Because we all know how well his last fabulous idea went…_

"You should go meet up with them."

Bruce stared at Tony, goggle-eyed.

"Tony." he said patiently. "You want me…to go to _Disney World_. Me, the giant green rage monster?"

"No, you, my friend Bruce." Tony said, just as patiently. "Go get your spider. Women like being pursued."

"Tony, I dunno if you're the best person to be taking relationship advice from…"

"I hate to say it, but this time, he's right." Pepper said, coming down the stairs. She sat down on the sofa across from them. "You should do it, Bruce."

"I'll make the arrangements." Tony said, going into full planning mode. Bruce just shook his head and groaned.

"Natasha texted me and said they were going to Epcot next." Pepper added.

Tony clapped his hands together. "Perfect! That means the park with all the mini countries! Go to fake France! Be romantic!"

Bruce looked like he would rather be sick, at the moment.

"Bruce." Pepper said gently. "Go sleep, right now. You're probably still jet lagged. But think about it."

Bruce nodded shakily.

"Alright." he took a sip of champagne. _Liquid courage_ , he thought wryly. "I'll do it. I'll think about it, still, but…I'll do it."

Tony clapped him on the shoulder. "Good man." He grinned. "I'm really pretty good at this whole arranged date thing. I should start a dating site. Or just buy Eharmony."

This time, Bruce _and_ Pepper groaned.

* * *

 **So, Bruce is back. I've had that idea in the works for awhile now...you'll see how it plays out next chapter.  
**

 **One of the last times my family went to Disney, the line for StarTours was incredibly short, for some odd reason. So we rode it multiple times. Also, fun fact, my Dad snuck me on StarTours when I was little and a few inches short of the height requirement. He just sort of picked me up and carried me in line ;) I have also been the Rebel Spy before. I like StarTours...and the Great Movie Ride...and Tower of Tower (although I hated it as a kid because I rode it when I was little and got sick to my stomach. And then I rode it years later and kicked myself for avoiding it for so many years!). I just love Hollywood Studios in general.**

 **Also, the thing about Bucky and Steve sneaking into a movie theater was based on something my Grandpa did as a kid. He grew up in the Midwest during the Depression (actually, since he was born in 1915, that would have made him around Steve and Bucky's actual ages. Yikes!)**

 **Next chapter should hopefully be up this coming weekend. Hopefully.**

 **Reviews are wonderful things...**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's Note: Hello, all! First off, I am so incredibly sorry for the long wait between chapters. The past week and a half were extremely busy and tiring for me. This chapter is literally brought to you courtesy of a snow day, because I don't think I could have cranked it out otherwise!**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoy this one. It's...sort of a Valentine's Day chapter, posted a day late. You'll see why...**

* * *

Chapter Five

After two days of heavy park-going, everyone agreed that a "rest day" was probably in order. So they spent their third vacation day at the resort, sleeping late, swimming, and generally hanging out. By the next day, they were more than ready for Epcot.

"We're getting Soarin' passes first." Sam insisted, as they congregated around the large flower beds at the park entrance.

Clint smirked. "What, can't get enough of flying on your own, Wilson?"

"Ha-ha, hilarious, Barton."

"Soarin'." Pietro echoed, staring at the map, the word's dropped ending sounding awkward with his thick accent. "I'll go that way." he muttered, tracing a path on the map's glossy image. "Then meet you guys where?"

"Daddy, they have Nemo…" Lila said softly. Clint nodded.

"I'll take you on Nemo sweetheart."

Steve glanced at Christy. "And what about you?"

Christy shrugged. "I wanna see all the country stuff. But I will ride Nemo."

"And Test Track, right?" Cooper added. "We're riding Test Track."

Clint nodded again. "That'll be the next FastPass."

Pietro shifted, his enthusiasm palpable. "I can go now?"

Steve rolled his eyes and grinned. "Yeah, go on, kid. Come back here when you're done."

Eyes shining, Pietro took off in blue blur.

Sam shook his head. "I swear, this would feel so exploitative if it wasn't for the fact that he loves it."

"He would be bored if he didn't do it." Wanda assured.

"Is that thing a ride?" Bucky muttered, jerking his head at what looked like a giant silver golf ball.

"Ah…yup." Sam replied, scanning the map. "'Spaceship Earth'. Oh, yeah, I did this before! It shows you how technology progressed throughout history and stuff. And you go backwards at one point."

Steve sighed. "I swear, SHIELD should have just sent me to Disney World after I woke up…"

"Can we do it?" Christy asked.

Everybody shrugged, nodded. A blur suddenly came streaking back into the group.

"Done!" Pietro crowed. "Ah…4:10 for time."

"Good." Clint said, collecting up the passes. "And what time's lunch, Steve?"

"12:30." the blond said, checking his watch. "It's 9:45 now, we got plenty of time."

"Alright." Natasha said, smirking. "Let's check out the golf ball."

* * *

The ride was mostly a slow, meandering movement past various animatronic displays, showing mankind's various technological advances.

The animatronics were well-made and decently life-like; moving and talking. And very close to the car.

Lila pressed up to Clint's side in the two-person car. "Daddy…they're scary…" she whispered, pointing shakily to the moving Egyptian pharaoh, in the section about hieroglyphics. The animatronic was waving his arms and speaking in what was supposed to be Ancient Egyptian.

"Aw, he's just tellin' the guy to go record the battle against their enemies." Clint said breezily. "Nothin' to worry about."

Lila looked up at her dad. "You know Egyptian?"

"'Course I know Egyptian." Clint lowered his voice. "I'm a spy. I know _everything_."

"Like Indiana Jones?"

" _Better_ than Indiana Jones."

Behind them, Cooper leaned over towards Natasha. "Does Dad really know Egyptian?"

Natasha smiled. "No." she whispered back. "But he does know how to be a good dad."

Cooper nodded seriously. "He does."

As they reached the end of the ride, the screen attached to each car came to life, asking a series of questions about what "your future" would look like. The answers you put in were used to create a video, showing "your life in the future".

"See, this is what the future was supposed to be like, right?" Bucky said, nudging Steve, who was sitting in front of him and Sam, with Christy. "Where's the flying cars? I really wanted a flying car."

"Go bug Stark." Steve said, smirking.

Bucky _hmphed_. "Forget weapons. World has enough weapons. Shoulda made his fortune in flying cars. I'd buy one."

"Tell Tony he'd be succeeding where his dad didn't, and he'd probably design one." Sam said, as they got off the ride.

"Design what?" Natasha asked.

"A flying car!" Christy said. "Apparently we were supposed to have those by now."

Clint grinned. "Yeah, guess we fell down on the job."

Steve just shook his head. "In a way, you did. And in a way…" he glanced around.

2015 didn't have flying cars or hoverboards. But there were good things. He hadn't been kidding about the polio vaccine. Or the internet.

But in reality, the best thing about the future wasn't the tech. It was the people he was proud to call friends.

"In a way, you didn't at all."

* * *

After Spaceship Earth, Lila insisted on riding Nemo. Cooper, however, was more interested in riding Mission Space. So they all split up for a while. Just before the World Showcase opened up at 11 o'clock, Pietro dashed to get Test Track fast passes.

"7:25!" he said, handing the passes to Clint all spread out like a winning hand.

"Pietro, you're awesome." Christy said, perfectly serious.

Wanda rolled her eyes. "He does not need a…what do you say? Big head?"

"Swelled head." Clint answered. "And I think it's a little late for that worry."

Pietro just flipped his hair back and grinned at Christy. " _Hvala, mače_."

"Where to next?" Sam asked. "We've got the whole world, literally, to pick from."

"No Sokovia?" Wanda asked in a fake-hurt tone as she studied the map.

"No Russia either." Natasha said in the same tone. "What is it with you guys?"

Clint grinned. "Two words: _Cold War_. Closest you get is…Germany, I guess. Or Norway."

Natasha sniffed. "Fine. I shall survive without my beloved motherland another day." she said, in horribly exaggerated Russian accent. The kids laughed.

"I'm good, thanks." Bucky said, completely deadpan.

Everybody stared.

"You're not Russian, Uncle Bucky…" Christy said.

"Nah, but I was trained in Russia. I think…some Soviet country, anyway. And I'm fine with never going back."

"Anyway!" Steve said, trying to correct the train wreck conversation before it got any worse. "Somebody pick a country! We're eating in Germany at 12:30."

"Germany?" Clint said. He couldn't resist.

"They have a buffet, and I wanted to go to Germany, however commercialized, without having to worry about getting shot." Steve said tersely.

"They have a boat ride in Mexico…" Cooper cut in shyly. The kids were feeling a bit out of depth with all the grown-up talk about training and war.

"Does anyone have any bad memories in Mexico?" Sam asked rhetorically. When Natasha started to open her mouth, he quickly said, "Okay, thought not! Let's go!"

* * *

"Ooooh!" Clint howled spookily, as the tiny boat pushed through the water, past the replica of a Meso-American pyramid. The whole inside of the Mexico pavilion was rather dark, giving a nighttime atmosphere.

"Barton…" Natasha hissed in a warning tone. "I'll really strangle you this time."

Christy, Cooper, and Lila received Clint's antics with a bit more goodwill.

Once past the spooky pyramid, the ride consisted of a boat tour past various screens and dioramas, showing Donald Duck getting horribly lost in Mexico, and his two Latin American bird friends trying to find him.

"I think I almost remember this…" Steve muttered to Bucky. "We didn't see the movie, but I remember seeing a poster or something…"

Bucky nodded, and then grinned fondly. "Didn't…I dragged you to a lot of movies, didn't I?"

"Yeah, to get my mind off the war, so I wouldn't enlist. 'Course, the newsreels didn't exactly help you on that count…."

"That says 'party today'." Christy muttered to Cooper, pointing at a banner that read "Fiesta Hoy".

"You know Spanish?" Cooper asked.

Christy nodded. "I learn it in school. And my friend speaks it, so she teaches me. I wanna know all the languages in the world, so I can talk to everybody!"

Cooper looked dubious. "That's a _lot_ of languages…"

Christy shrugged. "I know. But I'm only ten. I got time."

After the ride, all the kids were very interested in one section of the shopping area. Namely, the candy.

"Oh! They have them!" Christy cried, grabbing a pack of lollipops. "Dad, Dad, please, I gotta have this!"

Steve took the package and looked at it. "Chupa Chups?"

"They're the best candy ever! Sienna gave me and Tally some! They actually taste like fruit!"

Steve laughed. "Alright, alright. Just don't eat them all in one sitting."

"Thanks, Daddy!"

Pietro glanced at Wanda. "Best candy ever, eh?"

Wanda shrugged and picked up another pack of Chupa Chups. "Not expensive. You want to try?"

"I'll try anything!"

By the time they got out of the Mexico pavilion, it was almost time for their lunch reservation, so they quickly ran over to "Germany". The space was set up to look like a small little town, with typical German-looking architecture.

"Alright, keep the black comedy to a minimum, you two." Sam said to Bucky and Steve.

Bucky smirked. "What, ya mean don't say things like how nice the buildings look without bomb holes?"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Yes, that's _exactly_ the kind of thing I'm talking about! I know it still feels like yesterday for you two…but in real time, it's been close to eighty years."

"We'll be quiet." Steve said, giving Bucky a look.

Bucky nodded solemnly, but he was still grinning. "We'll try not to start the third World War."

Sam just facepalmed.

Thankfully, once they got seated, everyone was far more interested in the menu than war stories.

"You can eat as much as you want?" Pietro asked skeptically.

Clint nodded. "Well, try not to eat everything, but…yeah, as much as you want. Get your money's worth."

Pietro nodded back slowly, but Wanda still looked unconvinced.

"Do they not have buffets in Sokovia?" Christy asked. Almost immediately, she shook her head. "Of course they don't, that's a stupid question! Otherwise, you wouldn't be asking about 'em!"

Wanda smiled fondly at the girl. "You don't have to know everything, you know. I'm not offended. No, we don't have them…would you like to show me what to do?"

Pleased at being put in charge of something, Christy nodded. "Okay, I will. It's not so hard."

Meanwhile, Steve was glancing down at something on his phone.

"What are you looking for?" Natasha asked.

Steve frowned. "Trying to find out what wine comes from Augsburg."

Natasha gave him a very weird look.

"I'll explain later!"

When the waitress came back to take their drink order, the kids, and the twins, got soda (with Pietro staring pointedly at Steve. He'd had to learn the hard way that the lax drinking standards in Sokovia didn't exactly fly in America).

Most of the "grown-ups" got beer. Except for Steve, who ordered a glass of wine.

Bucky elbowed him. "Since when do you drink wine?"

Steve shrugged elaborately and smiled. "I wanted my drink." he said cryptically.

"What drink?" Sam asked, as everybody got up to get food.

Steve's smile got wider. "The night before I got the serum, Dr. Erskine and I were up talking. He…sorta told me his whole reasoning behind why he picked me for the experiment. And about his backstory with Red Skull. Anyway, he had a bottle of wine, and we were gonna toast or something, but he remembered that I wasn't supposed to drink before the procedure. So I never got my drink. I figure seventy-odd years is long enough to wait."

Bucky sighed. He didn't like being reminded of the whole "Steve got pumped with serum" thing. While he appreciated the serum for its effects on his friend…there was still the whole matter that said friend was experimented on without him around.

"Yeah…it's been long enough." he said quietly.

* * *

"I like German food." Pietro said, as the meal wound to a close.

"I think you like food, period." Steve countered, as Pietro managed to polish off his third piece of apple strudel.

"Well, I don't need to eat for the next century." Clint said, leaning back and stretching.

"I'll second that." Natasha added. "Where to next?"

Sam got out the map, and then looked at the kids. "Any suggestions?"

"China." Cooper said. "I like China."

"Which one has a ride?" Christy asked.

Sam glanced down. "Ah…looks like just Mexico, kid. The one in Norway is closed."

"Okay. Uh…I just wanna look at stuff."

Steve looked at his watch. "It's 1:40 now. We can't go on Soarin' until 4:10. Let's split up and meet over there then."

Everybody agreed to that, so as soon as the bill was paid and they went out into the stifling Florida heat, they all went off in different directions.

Steve, Bucky, and Sam took Christy and went right, into "Italy". They enjoyed looking at all the buildings, and even found some performers doing a show. As they kept walking, though, they entered a much different area.

"'The American Adventure'." Christy read from the map. She turned and grinned at her dad.

Steve pretended to look annoyed. "So, what, I have to go because I'm…" he lowered his voice, " _Captain America_?"

"It'd be a disgrace to the uniform otherwise, soldier." Sam joked.

"All that's missing is your get-up and you could join the show." Bucky said, throwing his arm around Steve's shoulder.

Groaning good-naturedly, Steve let himself be dragged into the building.

It was actually a really good show, a summation of American history (or, as much as could be condensed into a half-hour show), narrated by animatronics of Benjamin Franklin and Mark Twain.

 _"_ _Well, Dr. Franklin is our genuine American antique…"_

"I thought that was Dad." Christy said innocently. Steve rolled his eyes.

"Nah, it's me." Bucky said in a proud whisper. "I'm older."

"And I'm older than both of you physically, so _hush_." Sam ordered. "Some of us are tryin' to watch the show!"

They were all pretty silent during the "old history" parts. But as soon as the show started portraying the Great Depression era, the commentary started up again (quietly, of course). Especially when an animatronic of FDR appeared.

"I remember the voice…" Bucky muttered. "Not the name per se…but the voice…"

Steve nodded. "We used to listen on the radio. He always sounded so…like he knew what he was doing. Confident, but not cocky."

At the ending video montage, Steve couldn't help tear up slightly at the sight of the flag being raised on Iwo Jima, or the image of a newspaper reading "War Over".

"It's over, pal." Bucky whispered. "All over."

The video continued, showing the events of the last six decades—decades Steve only knew from images and footage and books.

"War's over." he whispered. "We won."

But he still stood by what he'd said to Fury.

 _They didn't tell me what we lost_.

* * *

They all met up at Soarin' in time to make the FastPasses.

"Now you're all gonna see what I see all the time." Sam said, as they all got buckled into their ride seats.

"Can you take me on a ride for real when we go home, Sam?" Christy asked.

"Me too?!" Cooper added.

Sam looked mildly concerned. "Ah…ask your dad, Christy…Cooper…ask your mom. We'll see."

"Mom'll let me do it." Cooper said confidently.

Steve shuddered slightly as Christy looked at him. "Let's stick with the theme park ride for now, okay, baby?"

"O- _kay_ …"

The giant screen in front of the ride was angled to look like you were actually flying over the many terrains of California, from the beach to an orange grove, to a snow-covered mountain with skiers.

The kids had fun, but shockingly, it was Wanda and Pietro who enjoyed the ride the most. Wanda had a giddy, childlike grin on her face, and Pietro kept kicking his legs out. Neither of them had much past experience with flying, so this was a fairly new experience.

They got off the ride, exhilarated by the feeling, however small, of being off the ground. Clint noticed Natasha checking her phone with a confused expression on her face.

Since it generally took a lot to make Natasha confused, Clint wondered what was up.

"You okay?" he asked softly.

"Yeah…" Natasha handed him her phone. "What do you think of this?"

The text displayed on the screen was from Tony. It read: _Spider-woman, crawl over to France, the fake Disney one. There's a surprise for you at the Boulangerie Patisserie._

"What, you mean the fact that Tony actually typed out that French name—correctly?"

Natasha sighed impatiently. "No. I mean…what's it about? It's not a joke, already asked him. That was my first thought."

Clint snorted. "It still might be a joke."

"Yeah…but now I'm curious. Stark's not gonna tell me to do something for no reason, that's not his style. He's always got some plan up his sleeve."

Clint shrugged. "You can always go check it out. Not like there's much we have to do until Test Track."

Natasha nodded slowly. "I think I will. If only for the pleasure of sending him an angry phone call if I get sent on a wild goose chase."

* * *

It was easy for Natasha to find the place Tony mentioned in the text. Everyone else was scattered, going to shows or, in Clint and Lila's case, going on the Nemo ride again.

The _Boulangerie_ _Patisserie_ was the "café" restaurant of Epcot's France pavilion, with little tables set to the side.

At first, Natasha just stared about in confusion, wondering what Tony had been drinking when he sent her the text.

And then…her eyes clicked onto the last person she'd expected to find here.

Bruce Banner sat at a table, a wine bottle and two glasses in front of him. He was fidgeting slightly and scanning the crowd.

Still in shock, Natasha edged her way over.

"Say, what's a guy like you doin'…in a dump like this." she said quietly, her voice catching a little.

Bruce looked up at her, eyes filled with a heady mixture of raw excitement and guilt.

"I…done a girl wrong." he whispered. "I got a bit of temper…and sometimes I don't think straight."

For a moment, it was as if time itself stopped.

"Natasha…" Bruce said urgently. "I… 'I'm sorry' doesn't cut it, I know. I screwed up, so much…such an idiot…"

"Just kiss me, you dork." Natasha said, sinking into the silvery, metal chair.

"I…what?"

Natasha smiled, really smiled. "Just kiss me."

So, shaking his head in wonder, Bruce did.

They stayed like that for a while. When they did break apart, all they could do was stare.

"You look…tan." Natasha said, desperately looking for something to say. "Where'd you go?"

"The Philippines." Bruce murmured. "I hid out for a bit, did the whole 'doctor without boarders' thing again."

"What…made you come back?"

Bruce's whole face lit up. "You."

Natasha scoffed. "Aw, Bruce, you don't…"

"Natasha…the whole time I was there, every time I slept…all I could see was your face, fading away on the video screen. And I would wake up so guilty…"

"Stop." Natasha reached out and grabbed his wrist. "It's all right."

"But it wasn't! I shouldn't have left you. It's not…things aren't like they used to be. I know that now. I can't just keep taking off with no explanations." He sighed. "There's more than just me, for once. And it's great and terrifying, because what if…"

"Bruce. Look at me." Natasha's face was deadly serious. "I'm not afraid of danger. I'm not afraid of risk. I like challenges, if the end goal is worth it."

"Is it worth it this time?" Bruce asked, almost timid.

"Am I worth it?" was his real question.

In answer, Natasha just leaned over and kissed him again.

* * *

"So…where's Aunt Tasha?" Christy asked, as they stood in line for Test Track.

Steve just shrugged. "She said to give her FastPass away, and that she'd meet us for fireworks later."

Everyone was looking at Clint, the one who knew Natasha best. Clint sighed. "Look, besides what I told you, I have no idea! She's not telling me anything!"

"At least the guy looked happy to get a FastPass." Cooper said.

Lila nodded. "And Auntie Nat can take care of herself. She'll be okay."

The grown-ups were still shooting each other looks, but they decided to compartmentalize any worries and enjoy the ride.

After snaking through the line that was still rather long, even for a FastPass line, they entered a room where you got to design your own custom car, to be "tested" on the ride.

"Pink and purple." Lila said. She was sharing a screen with Christy.

Christy frowned. "Blue and flames." she argued, pointing to the image of fire.

"All of it?"

"Okay."

After the design room, they walked through the rest of the extremely drawn-out waiting queue, until they at last boarded into the "test cars".

The ride consisted of several sections that tested various aspects of the car: acceleration, suspension, breaking. It was fun, but nowhere near the whiplash-giver that was Rockin' Roller Coaster.

"I wish we could drive the car." Pietro said to Wanda. "I would go so fast…"

Wanda grinned. "Yes, you would."

Pietro's wish came partially true when the ride came to its final phase: the speed track. Everyone was screaming as the car speed ratcheted up to over sixty miles.

"My hair's in my face!" Christy howled. Steve laughed and clumsily tried to grab his daughter's runaway locks. It didn't work out too well.

"That was the best!" Cooper cried, as the ride ended and they all went into the gift shop. "Can we do it again?"

"Tonight if we can, tomorrow if we can't." Clint said. "Park hoppers mean you can go to different parks during the day, and Animal Kingdom's only open 'till…five, or somethin'."

Cooper nodded, pacified. "Best ever!" he said again.

"Does this make up for no flying cars?" Sam joked to Bucky.

Bucky smiled. "Almost."

They got hamburgers and fries from a take-away food place, and found a spot to watch fireworks.

Clint glanced at his phone. "Natasha said she's on her way…"

"I see her!" Sam said. "But who's…?"

"Uncle Bruce!" Christy screamed, forgetting everything as she dashed into the crowd. Steve immediately took after her.

Bruce started at the sound of his name…and then felt something warm and alive slam into him.

"Uncle Bruce, you're back, you're back…you're never leaving again!"

All Bruce could do was shake his head at the babbling ten year old. He looked up into Steve's earnest eyes.

"Welcome back, doc." Steve said, stretching out his hand. Bruce returned the gesture, feeling almost overwhelmed.

"Hi…I, uh…Tony said you guys would be here."

"Everyone else is back that way." Steve said, pointing. "We were gonna watch the fireworks…I think we've got extra earplugs."

Bruce smirked and fished a small bag out of his pocket. "I brought my own."

Natasha just stood quietly, watching the scene with an amused, contented grin on her face.

Back with everyone else, there were more greetings to be had.

"Glad to have you back, man." Clint said, clapping Bruce on the shoulder, and then giving Natasha a quick side-hug.

"Same." Sam said, giving Bruce a handshake.

"Hiding's no fun, is it?" Bucky said quietly.

Bruce shook his head. "No…not so much. I learned…a lot."

Meanwhile, Wanda and Pietro were desperately trying to blend into the encroaching darkness. Bruce sighed.

 _Now's the time…before they get any wrong ideas._

"Hello, you two." he said quietly. "Congratulations on, ah, staying alive." he added, looking at Pietro.

Pietro nodded. "Thank you." There was no real hard feelings between him and the scientist, which was a relief.

Wanda on the other hand…

 _I could choke the life out of you and never change a shade…_

It hadn't just been the words, it had been the tone. Wanda could hear it still in her mind: a tone of quiet anger, the tone of one who had been completely violated.

She bowed her head and peered up at the scientist through her hair. "Doctor." she said. "I…I am…"

Bruce lifted his hand slowly (too slow to be a backhand) and gently pushed the hair out of her face. "I know." His tone now was quiet, understanding. "You didn't know what you were doing. We weren't people to you."

Wanda sucked in a breath. She had never heard it put so succinctly, but it was the truth. The Avengers had been just names and powers, not people with lives and fears and pains.

"I'm guessing you know better now?"

Wanda nodded. "I know much better."

"Good." Bruce sighed again. "I think we all know better, in some ways, after everything."

The announcement blared that the show would start in five minutes. Everyone who needed them started putting in earplugs.

And as bright colors once more lit up the sky, everyone allowed themselves to relax and enjoy the spectacle.

* * *

 **Bruce is back! Yay! Now, only God knows what I'm gonna do with him once Civil War hits in my universe...never mind in this fic. Eleven characters! Oy!  
**

 **Oh well, I'll figure it out.**

 **"The Three Caballeros" came out in 1944, so Steve and Bucky would not have seen it (because they were too busy blowing up HYDRA), but they might have heard of it or seen posters for it.  
**

 **Chupa Chups are a Spanish brand of lollipop and are some of the best candy I've ever tasted. The fruit flavor actually comes out! Needless to say, last time I was at Epcot...**

 **Hope you enjoyed. Update...might come by the weekend, but don't push your luck. I am trying, but I am also in college. My schoolwork will always have first priority. I DO HOPE TO UPDATE "THE WAR OUTSIDE..." soon, because I know I haven't updated it for over a month. There should be some one-shots with Ant Man coming...**

 **In the meantime...Reviews are wonderful things...**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's Note: I'm baaaack! Don't worry, I'm still alive-real life held me as a temporary hostage, but never fear, I have regained the upper hand! This is the last park-going chapter, and I think I will be wrapping things up next chapter. (I told you this would probably be short!) I have a lot of one-shots that I want to get to before Civil War, including one or two with Ant-Man, so I really need to get this show on the road. But thank you so much to everyone who has responded to this little tale-it's been a fun trip down memory lane for me.**

 **One thing I do want to say: I think I'm doing a decent job of giving overviews for each ride, but if you want a better visual, most of the rides or shows I describe are video recorded on YouTube-including some very high-quality ones. Worth checking out if you haven't been to WDW (or haven't been for a while).**

 **Anyway, on with the chapter!**

* * *

Chapter Six

The next morning everyone, Bruce included, piled in the rented van and went off to Animal Kingdom.

"Lions and tigers and bears; oh my! Lions and tigers and bears; oh my! Lions and…"

Clint craned his neck back to where the three kids were sitting in the back row, bright-eyed and eager. "Lila. Honey. You gotta stop."

The tiny brunette wiggled in her seat. "Sorry, Dad. I'm excited!"

Clint shook his head. "I know you're excited. Why don't you look at the map?"

"We did that last night." Cooper pointed out.

"Well, do it again." Clint said, shooting his son a _look_. Anything to get Lila's mind off of singing a mind-numbingly repetitive song.

"Pick which one you want a FastPass for first." Steve added, looking back at Christy. The girl nodded and tapped Lila's shoulder.

"C'mon, let's make a strategy. Like the grown-ups."

Steve's lips turned up in his signature "my child is awesome" smile.

Sam had very pointedly offered to drive this morning, and Bucky had quickly claimed shotgun. This meant that Natasha, who usually sat in one of those two spaces, was forced into the back of the van.

Everyone else made sure that Bruce and only Bruce got the seat next to her. Even the kids were fully on board.

Natasha learned over to Bruce, who was staring out the window, probably trying to mentally get away from the semi-chaos. "Still not sorry you came?"

Bruce pulled back from the window with a start.

"Nah…" he drawled slowly. "It's…kinda nice. Like a family."

Natasha nodded. "It is."

Neither of them had particularly stellar families of origin. (At least, Bruce didn't for sure. Natasha had no idea what her birth family was like, aside from a few hazy memories that may or may not have been real.) So an environment like this, surrounded by people enjoying each other's company, was definitely a welcome break from lifetimes of habitual isolation.

"Besides," Bruce gave a small grin. "what else would I be doing with my life?"

Natasha just shook her head. What else, indeed.

* * *

The nice thing about Animal Kingdom was that it wasn't very nostalgia-inducing (or bad-memory inducing) for anyone. True, Natasha, Clint, and Bruce all had been in places like the ones portrayed, but never for anything that had ended badly.

So, everyone was more-or-less acting like little kids, fascinated with the "jungles" and "exotic scenery".

"Did you three agree on a FastPass ride?" Steve asked the kids.

Cooper nodded. "The yeti one."

"Expedition Everest." Christy clarified.

Clint grinned at Pietro. "Ya ready, champ?"

Pietro stretched up and back, like a professional athlete. "Always ready. Where am I going?"

"We let him run ahead and get FastPasses before they all run out." Natasha explained to Bruce.

Bruce nodded sagely. "Ah. That makes sense. Might as well use your assets."

"That, and the fact that several of us don't have the patience to wait in long lines. And not all of that group includes children."

After Pietro got back with Expedition Everest passes, they all decided to go look at the animals. Walking up counterclockwise into the park, they reached "Asia" first.

"Uncle Bruce, is this what India looked like?" Christy asked, gesturing around at the very South Asian setup.

Bruce thought for a moment. "Well…I was in a big city, so it was a lot more crowded, even than this." He shook his head. "And there was a lot more trash and a lot more desperate people. So many people…kids your age running around begging or stealing or trying to get work, 'cause they couldn't afford school."

Christy's face morphed into an unsettled frown. "That's not very fair."

"No…it's not."

Christy's frown deepened. "When I get older, I'm gonna do something about that. Do they need therapists in India?"

Bruce chuckled. "Probably."

Christy nodded decisively. "Then I'll do that. I'm gonna go everywhere and help everybody!"

Bruce opened his mouth to say that maybe Christy might want to think that one through better, when he felt Natasha's hand on his arm.

"Let her dream, Bruce. Let her be a kid. God knows we never could."

Bruce let out a long sigh. "Yeah…"

"Dad, Dad; look at the monkeys!" Cooper called. A large, stone pavilion rose out of the "river", surrounded by wooden poles that looked like scaffolding. Several monkeys swung from the makeshift "branches".

"Look, Pietro; it's you." Wanda said teasingly. Pietro rolled his eyes and muttered something back in Sokovian that started a full-scale verbal tussle.

"Be nice, children." Clint said jokingly.

"But Daaad, she called me a bad name." Pietro protested back, a huge smile on his face.

Clint rolled his eyes. "Don't make me call mom." he said, only half-kidding. Even if the twins wouldn't listen to him, they would sure as anything listen to Laura. They'd latched onto her like an ant to honey.

"I wanna be a monkey." Lila said. "Like Jungle Book. Actually, I'll stay a human, but I wanna live in the jungle like Mowgli."

"I wanna be a tiger!" Christy said. "Or a lion. Lions are good, too. Besides, girl lions are the ones that hunt. Boy lions just sleep all day and act scary."

They managed to tear the kids away from the monkeys and into the actual exhibit area, which was set up (roughly) like the ruins of an Asian temple.

"What's in here, anyway?" Bucky muttered, trying to peer at the map in the dim light.

"Fruit bats, apparently." Sam said.

"Aww, they're so cute!" Christy said, leaning onto the wire mesh that separated visitors from the bats. "Hi little batsy."

"Cute?" Bucky said, disbelief creeping into his tone, indicating that a description more along the lines of "scary as all get-out" would better suffice.

Steve shrugged. "If she says so."

"Are the bats gonna suck my blood?" Lila asked.

"No, that's just in movies." Cooper scoffed.

Lila still looked a little nervous.

"That's why they're called fruit bats." Bruce explained softly. "They eat fruit. Actually, bats usually just eat insects. They don't want to hurt you…they just wanna live."

Looking thoughtful, Lila peered into the bat enclosure. "Hi bats…" she whispered.

Other areas were filled with various birds…and the last area contained what everyone, kids and grown-ups alike, wanted to see.

"It's a tiger!" Christy said. She turned to Steve with a very serious look on her face. "Dad, I want a tiger."

Steve flat-out facepalmed.

"Uh, I don't think that's a good idea, kid." Sam tried. "Besides, a tiger wouldn't be very happy in New York."

"But we're moving to the middle of nowhere soon, right? It would have plenty of room there!"

Steve shook his head. "Baby, I love you. But I'm not buying you a tiger."

Christy sighed, though, of course, she'd known what the answer would be to her request. It seemed that even the Avengers had limits.

"I bet Uncle Tony would buy me a tiger."

Bucky snorted. "Yeah, because anything Tony Stark does is an accurate measurement of how people should normally behave."

"But we're not normal…"

"No tigers." Steve said firmly. "This conversation is closed! Besides, our FastPass time is coming up."

"O- _kay_ …"

* * *

"Does the yeti actually exist?" Cooper asked Clint.

Clint coughed slightly and looked over at Bruce. "Help me out here?"

Bruce raised his eyebrow.

"You're the scientific one!"

"Yeah, I work with science. Not myth."

"But it's got evidence…" Christy pointed out. The ride queue was decorated with pictures from various "yeti-hunting" expeditions, as well as various artifacts and fossils.

"Evidence that probably got made solely for this ride." Natasha pointed out.

"To answer your question, no, bud; I don't think the yeti exists." Clint clarified.

"Except on the ride." Cooper said.

"Except on the ride."

They finally wound through the queue and got into the rickety-looking metal cars. The ride lurched up and around, and into the "cursed" mountain. Finally, the car reached a point on the track where it appeared to be "chewed" by the ferocious yeti.

And the car whooshed backwards, in a move nobody had been expecting.

"This is revenge for the cyclone!" Bucky howled.

"No it's not! I didn't know the stupid thing went backwards!" Steve yelled back.

As they all got off, nearly everyone was immediately clamoring to do it again.

"Okay, we'll get passes!" Clint said, trying desperately to be the voice of reason. "But don't you guys wanna do some other stuff?"

"There's a Nemo show…" Natasha said casually.

"Nemo!" Lila cried immediately. "I wanna see Nemo."

Steve checked the time. It was a little after 11:30. "Why don't we go get lunch, and then split up? This park's not all that huge…maybe we can go back somewhere else tonight."

Clint nodded. "Sounds fair. Where we gonna eat?"

Steve showed him on the map. "I made reservations already."

The archer grinned. "Looks fine to me."

The restaurant, one of the largest in the park, was called the Tusker House. It was an all-you-can-eat (or, as the map put it, "all-you-care-to-enjoy") buffet with plenty of food for even the most hungry of super soldiers. Or super-speedsters.

"Pietro…" Wanda hissed warningly. "You cannot eat everything!"

"Is that a command or a dare?"

Wanda rolled her eyes in exasperation as they sat down at the table. "Just try not to bankrupt Disney."

"Challenge…" Pietro looked at Christy. "What is that phrase you say…challenge taken?"

"Challenge accepted." Christy corrected.

Pietro smiled innocently at his sister. "Challenge accepted!"

Wanda thunked her head on the table. Steve reached over and gave her shoulder a sympathetic pat. "It's alright, I doubt he could eat more than me."

"Challenge also accepted!"

Steve groaned. "Let's all just shut up and get food."

" _A_ -men." Sam muttered.

* * *

As it turned out, they didn't split up right after lunch, because enough people wanted to see the Lion King show. They crowded in, along with hundreds of others, into the packed metal bleachers of the show building.

Sam looked like a kid on Christmas morning. "I loved this movie as a kid. I still like it!"

"Have I seen this one?" Steve asked rhetorically, trying to think. "If it's Disney, then it's a good bet that I've seen it, for…obvious reasons. But they all start blurring…does it have princesses?"

Sam laughed. "No, not really. It's about…"

By the time the show started, Sam had managed to catch Steve (and Bucky, and the twins, who'd been listening in) up to speed on the basic plot of the movie.

The performance was extremely interactive, with lots of audience participation, giant puppets, and, of course, the tumble monkeys—gymnasts dressed in monkey costumes performing stunts.

"Auntie Nat, can you teach me how to do that?" Lila asked, starting in awe at the seemingly death-defying stunts.

"If your mom says so." Natasha replied automatically.

Lila started to pout a bit. "Why is it never if _Dad_ says so?"

"Does your dad _ever_ say no?"

"Not as much as mom…"

"And there's your answer."

"I take offense at that!" Clint said, mock-outrage seeping into his tone.

"You know it's true, Barton. Before Laura came along, your parenting skills were the equivalent of 'if they aren't bleeding, it's okay.'"

Clint huffed. "Well it's true!"

"Children." Sam cut in, in a very firm, mildly exasperated voice. "Some of us are _trying_ to watch the _show_."

That ended things quickly.

* * *

After the show, it was about 1:30 p.m., so everyone split off their separate ways.

Lila was dead-set on seeing Nemo, and Cooper didn't have any major objections, so Clint took them in that direction with Natasha and Bruce tagging along.

"They have a safari animal thing over here…" Steve said, looking at the map. He looked at the twins. "Wanna come with us?"

Wanda shrugged and Pietro followed suit. "Okay."

The Kilimanjaro Safari involved a very bumpy ride in a mock all-terrain vehicle over carefully engineered savannah with enough animals to keep everyone thoroughly enthralled. The twins, for one, had never seen anything like this.

"I wish I could pet them." Christy confided to Wanda.

Wanda smiled. "They would run away." she pointed out. "Or eat you."

"Yeah…"

Somehow, Wanda didn't think that a recitation of possible dangers was going to e _ver_ keep Christy from doing _anything_ she truly wanted.

 _Like father, like daughter_ …

She gazed across the beautiful landscape. It was easy to pretend that they were actually somewhere in Africa. The bright blue sky with barely a cloud made it seem like the world lay open in front of her—a sea of boundless chances.

 _"_ _What are you thinking?"_ she heard Pietro say in her head.

 _"_ _Two months ago, we were shut up in Strucker's lab."_ Wanda thought back. _"Now…everything has changed. The world is so much bigger than we thought."_

 _"_ _We're alive."_ Pietro added quietly. _" Really alive. Not half-alive and living scared."_

"Ooh! Lions! I want one!" came Christy's urgent cry. "Hi Simba!"

Sam and Steve's respective cries of, "That's not Simba!" and "No, Christy, you cannot have a lion!" not to mention Bucky's quiet laughter, brought the twins back to reality.

 _I'm alive._ Wanda thought, keeping it to herself this time. _I'm alive and I'm going to live._

* * *

"Nemo, Nemo, Nemo…" Lila chanted under her breath, as she followed her dad into the giant theater.

"Apparently this is supposed to be a pretty good show." Natasha said, looking up from her phone.

Clint nodded. "Hope so."

The show was actually fantastic. The actors wore bright costumes and carried (or wore) puppets of whatever character they were portraying. It was a good, condensed version of the movie, complete with new songs.

Clint had seen Finding Nemo more times than he'd probably cared to (thanks to Lila). But he did have a soft spot in his heart for poor old Marlin.

 _He just wants his kid to be safe…_

He glanced at Lila and Cooper, caught up in the show, and sighed.

 _I would really prefer it if the world didn't chew them up and spit them out the way it tried to do to me. I hope I'm doing things right. I have to be away so much._

"Dad?"

Clint looked down at Cooper. "Yeah, bud?"

"Would you cross the ocean to find me? Or Lila?"

Clint pulled both his kids into a hug.

"I'd cross the world, space, and the whole universe to find either of you. You two, your mom, your brother…you're my bullseye. My center, understand? Nothing comes before you."

He breathed out in a shaky sigh.

"Nothing in the world."

* * *

"This kinda looks like Coney Island used to…" Steve said.

"This is scarily familiar." Clint murmured back. They had met up again in Dinoland U.S.A, an area of the park set up as an homage to an old midway-style side-show park, complete with gaudy, over-the-top décor and carnival games.

Also dinosaurs. Lots of dinosaurs.

"I still can't believe you were actually in the circus." Sam said.

Clint sighed. "Oh, believe it. Not only was I _in_ the circus, I ran _away_ to _join_ the circus. I was the kid they tell you only exists in storybooks."

"'The Amazing Hawkeye, the World's Greatest Marksman'!" Cooper quoted proudly.

"And the world's biggest dork!" Lila added, her pleased tone clashing horribly with her words.

Nearly everyone burst out laughing. Natasha grinned. "That one might be my fault."

"I thought I was the world's biggest dork." Bruce said, faking hurt.

"No, I said you were a _huge_ dork. There's a difference!"

They all went on the two biggest rides in the area: Primeval Whirl, a wild-mouse coaster with lots of sharp turns, and DINOSAUR, a ride that took you into the dark, scary world of the "age of dinosaurs" in search of one such endangered creature.

Primeval Whirl was simply good fun in general. But on DINOSAUR, Bucky lost his signature ball cap, the one that he'd "acquired" in his post-Winter Soldier days.

"Stupid ride…" Bucky muttered, running his hand over his now-uncovered hair and glaring at Steve, who'd managed to hang onto his cap. "How come yours didn't get lost?"

"I can get you a new one." Steve offered, but Bucky just shook his head.

"Nah, I'll get it. Guess its okay, though. After all…" he gave a blackly comic smirk. "Who's gonna look for the former Winter Soldier under a hat from Disney World?"

Steve shrugged, conceding to that point.

After that, everyone agreed that there wasn't much left in this park, unless they wanted to ride Expedition Everest again. The "grown-ups" let the kids play in the Boneyard (a play area themed like an archeological dig) while they planned out the rest of the day. Wanda and Pietro had attempted to stay around for planning, but after very obviously staring at the playground (which was like nothing they'd ever seen before), Clint had shooed them off to "go make sure my kids don't break a bone!"

"We could always go back to Magic Kingdom." Sam suggested. "There's a lot of stuff we didn't do, or that I wouldn't mind doing again."

"And Bruce didn't get to go." Natasha added.

Bruce looked down shyly. "Nah, it's okay…"

"No it's not." Natasha cut him off. "You still got a Magic Kingdom map, Wilson?"

Sam pulled the correct map out of his pocket and handed it to Natasha. "I swear, how did I end up as the 'keeper of the map'?"

Natasha shrugged. "Here, look at this." she said, handing the map over to Bruce.

Bruce scanned the admittedly full map for a few moments. "Ah…did anybody do 'It's a Small World'?"

"We didn't, actually." Steve mused. "Christy wanted to see Cinderella."

"And there's a bajillion rides in Fantasyland." Clint said. "Maybe we can get on that Mine Train ride."

"We did." Bucky said, confused. "That's where we made that punk be quiet."

Bruce looked horribly confused. Steve mouthed 'I'll explain later'.

"Not that one, the other one." Clint said. "Seven Dwarf's Mine Train. It's new, so it had a crazy wait time. But it's late, so maybe the line'll be less."

"Famous last words." Sam joked.

Clint shrugged. "Worth a shot. C'mon, let's round up the kids. All of them."

* * *

 _It's a world of laughter, a world of tears  
_

 _It's a world of hopes and a world of fears_

 _There's so much that we share,_ _that it's time we're aware_

 _It's a small world after all!_

 _It's a small world after all,_

 _It's a small world after all,_

 _It's a small world after all,_

 _It's a small, small world!_

"Sure you're not going to hulk out?" Natasha asked Bruce, only half-kidding.

Bruce shook his head and gave his trademark bashful smile, the kind he gave when he was really enjoying himself. "No…I like it. It's not annoying to me, it's…hopeful. Maybe naïve, but…it makes me believe that everything doesn't have to be all the time terrible."

"That's England, that's France, that's Ireland…oh, Dad, it's Ireland!" Christy said, as the boat sailed past a set of tiny dolls with stereotypical red hair. The song also switched to sounding like it was being played on bagpipes.

"There's more to Ireland than all _that_." Bucky groused.

Steve nodded furiously, images of his immigrant mother clouding his head. "I'd like to go there someday. See the places Ma told stories about."

"Can I come with you?" Christy asked.

"'Course! You think I'd leave you behind?"

Most of the ride was spent with the kids pointing out all the various countries the dolls belonged to, and the grown-ups both helping them, and trying not to get the song stuck in their heads.

"And again, no Sokovia!" Wanda said grumpily. Pietro scowled in agreement.

"At least they had Russia." Christy said. "That's kinda similar."

"They don't have America." Lila added, trying to be helpful.

"This whole ride is in America." Pietro shot back. "I know Sokovia is small, but we do exist!"

The exit tunnel of the ride had the word "goodbye" in various languages painted onto the wall.

"That's German, that's Hebrew, that's…Aunt Tasha, what's that one?" Christy asked, pointing at a word. "It looks like Russian letters."

Natasha frowned. "Zbogrom?"

" _Zbogrom_?" Pietro asked, shocked. "It says _zbogrom_? That's Sokovian! Where is it?"

"It's right there!" Christy jabbed her finger excitedly in the direction of the phrase.

Wanda felt an irrational pride bubble up in her chest.

 _It's just a word! Just a word…_

 _But it's_ _ **my**_ _word._

Steve gripped her shoulder. "They didn't forget ya."

They all walked out of the tiny boats and into the dimming sunlight.

"Can we get dinner?" Lila asked Clint.

Clint nodded. "Food is probably good."

"And then what?" Sam asked. "We gonna close the park down, or what?"

Everyone shrugged.

"We're not leavin' for another couple days." Bucky pointed out.

"You doin' okay?" Steve asked Christy. Clint simultaneously assessed his kids.

"I'm hungry, but I'll be awake if I eat sugar." Christy said.

"Can we get hot dogs and fries again?" Cooper added.

Clint shook his head. "Li? You good?"

Lila nodded. The six year old was running on pure adrenaline at this point. "I'm good!"

"All in favor of closin' the park down say 'aye'!" Steve said, grinning.

A chorus of 'ayes' rang out.

"All in favor of getting food before everyone with fast metabolisms or all small children loose it say 'aye'!" Natasha added sternly.

A second chorus hastily was said, and the group headed off to Casey's Corner again.

"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears, it's a world of hope…" Christy sung softly.

Steve couldn't help but smile.

 _A world of hope…_

Yes, it was a semi-naïve way to look at things. Yes, the world had its fair share of problems, bad guys, and enemies of all that was right and good.

But he still held on to the belief that the end of all things was a new beginning. That somewhere beyond the world of tears, there really was a world of hope.

And, after all, wasn't this the place where dreams came true?

* * *

 **A family friend actually did lose his hat on the DINOSAUR ride. Also, the Nemo show is amazing, and one of my mom's personal favorites. (Mine will always be Expedition Everest, though. It makes the park.  
**

 **As for "Small World"...I was totally the kid that pointed out what country each doll was from. Also, I have no idea if there is Serbian (what I'm using for Sokovian) is on the goodbye wall. But in my world, there is!  
**

 **Hope you all enjoyed. Next (last) chapter should be up soon, hopefully before my life gets too hectic. Until then...**

 **Reviews are wonderful things...**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello, all! Back for the last time on this story. Here's just a short epilogue to wrap things up and segue into the next few one-shots I'll eventually get around to posting. Enjoy!**

* * *

Epilogue

The happy group had returned from Florida significantly tanner and one person larger. The Common Floor, already hosting Tony, Pepper, Rhodey, and Vision (Thor having gone after Jane), suddenly became a literal whirlwind of activity.

Tony smirked knowingly at Bruce, who ducked his head and refused to comment. Natasha merely gave the billionaire a cool, even stare (and discussed everything later with Pepper).

Christy, as was typical for her, had returned bearing gifts. Also like her, she managed to get away with giving things to people that would not have been received well coming from anyone else.

For instance, she got Tony a set of Mickey Mouse ears (along with the appropriate Minnie ones for Pepper).

Tony actually smiled at the little black cap. "I always wanted one of these." he muttered off-handedly. "The kids always had them on the TV show."

Sam shook his head. "Stark watched the Mickey Mouse Club? That's it, my mind is officially blown."

Rhodey got a tiny model of the Millennium Falcon. Turning it over in his hand, he said, "Thanks, kid. You...didn't have to get me anything…"

Christy shrugged. "Jarvis said you like Star Wars. And I like getting people things. Your gonna be with the Avengers for real now, and that makes you family."

Rhodey shot Steve a questioning look. The blond shrugged, a smile tugging on his lips. "Just roll with it. She's like that."

"So, like Tony on a good day, minus the enormous irreverency for everything. Got it."

"Rhodey!" Tony put his hand to his chest in an affected manner. "I am shocked, shocked and hurt..."

But the best present had to be the one for Vision. Christy presented him with a plastic Baymax toy.

"He's a robot from a movie." she explained. "He makes everyone feel better if they're sick or hurt. He's...on the side of life."

Vision grasped the tiny figure with extreme interest. "I shall try to be worthy of such a gift."

Christy shrugged. "Well, you already lifted Uncle Thor's hammer, so…"

"What's so special about that?" Cooper wanted to know.

"It's a hammer that people can only lift if they're worthy of all Uncle Thor's power. Or…something like that."

"Or if they have Thor's DNA." Tony said petulantly.

Bruce smirked a little. "Still sore about that, huh, Tony?"

"Hey, I totally could have lifted it! The hammer's just biased is all!"

"Steve made it budge." Bucky said proudly.

Steve looked like he rather wished the earth would swallow him up. "Buck…" he whined."

"What? 'S true!"

Clint leaned back on the couch with Lila snuggled up on him. "Ahh…good to be home."

"This isn't really home…" Lila protested. "Mom and Nathaniel aren't here."

Clint sighed. The vacation had been great, but he really, really missed his wife and baby. "Good point. Wanna skype them later?"

Lila nodded eagerly.

"I'm gonna be working closer to the house now…" he said slowly. "Once the new Avengers base gets finished. So I'll be home more."

"That's good. Are we gonna see Christy more, too? And Wanda and Pietro?"

Clint smiled. "You like them, huh?"

"Yeah! I like having cousins. Or more siblings. Whatever they are. I like everybody." she shut her eyes in happy contentment. "It's like having a big family."

Some nasty, pessimistic voice developed as a cautionary tool whispered in Clint's mind that "big families" could also mean big fights…but he pushed the voice away.

"Kinda, sweetheart." he whispered, looking at the crazy mess of people surrounding him. "Kinda."

* * *

Steve entered his daughter's room that night after giving a soft knock on the door. Bucky had laughed and called him overprotective, but it had been weird during the vacation week to not see Christy at night.

Still, a vacation had been good. It have given him and Christy a long-overdue bonding time.

It had also served to make him more aware of how fast she was growing up.

 _She's gonna be eleven in March…I know that's months away, but it's gonna get here so fast…and then I'll blink and she'll start high school…_

Christy was sitting in her bed, surrounded by about four books and her laptop. "Hi, Dad."

"Hey, baby…" He sat down on the bed.

"Dad…when are we gonna move to the base?"

Steve sighed. "Tony says it should be up to snuff in about another two weeks."

Christy nodded. "It's gonna be weird not living in the Tower."

Steve was more-or-less used to not having a permanent home by now (he dreamed of having a house someday, but knew it wasn't likely at this point). But for Christy, the Tower had been her home base, the first stable place she'd lived after her mom's death.

"I know…" he said. "But the base will be nice. We'll make it home."

"Is the base on a mountain?" Christy wanted to know.

Steve could feel his face morphing into a very confused expression. "Uh…I don't think so, baby. But it is in the woods…near the woods. Lots of trees."

"Oh." Christy frowned. "I hoped it was near a mountain, like in _Heidi_. I wanted to live somewhere where you could hear wind in the pine trees and go pick flowers."

"Well…how about we build you a tree house and you can still pick flowers?" Steve offered. Christy had talked often enough about Cooper and Lila's tree house for him to hear the pangs of longing in her voice.

"Really?" Christy's face brightened. "Maybe the country will be okay after all. Am I still gonna go to school?"

Steve coughed awkwardly. He'd actually had this discussion with Sam not too long ago…

"Yeah, you'll have school, baby, but…how would you like to try doing it at home? On...on the computer?"

Christy looked like Christmas had come early. "Yes! Home school is awesome! You get to wake up whenever you want and nobody's annoying like at normal school and…do I still have to do math?"

Steve laughed. "Yes, you still have to do math. But somebody will always be around to help you."

"Okay. Can…can I do guitar, too?"

Steve's eyebrows shot up. "Guitar? Where's this coming from?"

Christy shrugged. "All the good singers play guitar. And…I like music. Can I, Dad?"

Steve looked speculative. "We'll talk about this some more…if it's something you really want. You'll have to practice."

Christy nodded. "I know. But I really want it Dad. Really."

Steve nodded slowly, mentally making a note to look up a good music store in the city. "Okay, baby. Any more random and unusual questions tonight?"

"Am I still gonna see my friends?"

"Yes. Absolutely." That had been Steve's biggest worry. Christy was naturally social and the thought of depriving her of people her own age and messing up her development frightened him to no end.

But, it was hardly like she was going to be isolated and if being surrounded by adults made her a little more grown-up than her peers…well, was that so bad?

"We'll just have to get creative." he finished. "And we'll only be an hour out from Clint's place." he smirked. "And you'll always have the twins…although they are gonna have to train!"

Christy smiled. "I like Pietro. And Wanda." she added hastily. "It's just…Pietro's _fun_. Wanda's quieter. But sometimes I like quiet, too." She suddenly looked pensive. "I wonder when the next bad thing is gonna happen."

Steve frowned. "'The next bad thing'?"

"Yeah, like, the next bad guy. Or robot. Or evil organization. You're gonna have to go fight, and I'm gonna worry, and then you'll come back okay." She sighed a little. "Why is it always you and everybody else that has to go fight?"

Steve shook his head. "We're the good guys, baby. It…kinda comes with the job description."

"Sometimes I wanna scream at the world to just stay fixed so you can stay with me. But that's not fair, 'cause the world's _never_ gonna be all fixed, and the Avengers are the best at fighting bad guys. And then I'm proud of you, 'cause you always go fight even when you're scared or don't wanna."

Steve could feel a mist rise over his eyes. "I'm so proud of you, too. Honestly, I couldn't ask for a better kid…you were the beginning of everything good for me."

Christy looked down. "I thought that was the Avengers."

"No, it was you that made everybody start acting like a family." Steve smiled fondly. "We've had some crazy times, huh, kid?"

"Yeah…" Christy looked speculative. "I guess the only thing reliable is more crazy. Did we get to the end of the line yet?"

"Oh, we're way past there. We're into uncharted territory, baby girl."

Father and daughter sat quietly for a moment. Presently, Steve started to hum a familiar melody.

"It's a world of laughter, a world of tears, it's a world of hope and a world of fears…" Christy chimed in. "I like that part. It's true."

Steve nodded slowly. To be honest, the world seemed a lot less small these days, despite advances in technology. It felt bigger and sometimes colder.

But sometimes, like now, the world didn't feel quite so big. Or so hopeless.

 _There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all…_

* * *

Wanda looked over at the large amount of candy and other treats piled all over their coffee table (one of the few pieces of furniture on their floor). "Did you just buy anything with sugar?"

Pietro shrugged, looking over his stash with pride. "We're not gonna go back maybe ever. I wanted as much as I could get."

"I hope you're going to share."

"Of course!" Pietro drew himself up with affected dignity. "What do you take me for?"

Wanda grinned. "My crazy little brother."

"Little! I'm twelve minutes older!"

"And you were unconscious for many hours! That makes me older now!"

Pietro's mouth hung open at this stunning display of logic. "Fine." he said in a huff. "You can be older."

Wanda's smile dimmed a little, as she thought about what she'd said.

Bucky and Clint had both told her that a mark of beginning to overcome trauma was being able to joke about it. And it was easy, here in the bright daylight, to joke about Pietro almost dying.

At night…not so much.

"Still…I wish you were the older one." Wanda said carefully.

Pietro frowned.

"Are you thinking about what happened?" he asked, curling his arm around her shoulders. "I'm alright now. I promise. I'll never leave you like that again."

Wanda nodded. "I know you'll try." She took a deep breath. "So…did you like your first American vacation?"

Pietro smiled. "It was good. Very, very good. Everyone is so different, when they're not fighting or planning something serious. They…got real."

"I know. They…they scream and laugh and eat like we do." Wanda hung her head a bit. "Doctor Banner was right. Before…I didn't really think they were human. Now I know better. Now…I think I can fight with them better. I trust them."

Pietro couldn't help but feel shock. Wanda's trust was a thing not lightly given.

"And you?" she asked.

Pietro nodded. "Yes…I trust them, too. As much as I can right now. Old patterns don't break easy, but…I can listen to Steve or Natasha or Clint without feeling…like I have to ask so many questions. I know they don't want to hurt me."

That was it, in the end. With the unusual motley crew known as the Avengers, the twins had found something they'd been missing for ten years.

A family.

* * *

Natasha came down to the Common Floor and found Bruce sprawled out on one of the couches. "Do you even have a floor, or have you just taken over the couch down here?"

Bruce looked up and smiled lazily. "Didn't feel like moving. Now I really don't want to."

Natasha rolled her eyes and sat down across from him. "Flatterer."

Bruce gave a bow of his head. "Guilty. But you deserve every bit."

Natasha smiled. "I can only accept because you have no acting skills whatsoever. So, unlike most guys who would tell me that, you actually mean it."

Bruce scoffed. "'Course I mean it! I may be a dork, but I don't…lie."

There was silence for a bit. Natasha broke it at last.

"Bruce…what are we gonna do? About…us? Are we an 'us' now? I…really don't have a precedent for this."

Bruce grinned. "The famous Black Widow has no precedent for what to do in romantic relationship?"

"Not a healthy, real one." Natasha muttered. "Not one I take seriously."

Bruce sobered. "Yeah…I understand. Well…I'm gonna start by trying _not_ to run away in some twisted attempt to protect you every time something goes wrong. I'll be around as much as I can. You're going to the base, yeah?"

"Somebody's gotta whip those idiots into shape, and it's not fair to let Steve go at it alone." Natasha said, a casual tone taking the heat out of her words.

Bruce nodded. "Maybe the new base needs a research assistant. I…might go back and forth, though. Tony…he's still my friend. And he needs someone around besides just Pepper."

"I know." Natasha said firmly. "I wouldn't keep you from coming here. I wouldn't keep you from doing _anything_."

Bruce's face lit up in a grin. Suddenly, he ducked his head. "Uh, hey…remember at Epcot, and we, ah, when you first found me?"

Natasha kept her face blank. "Yeah?"

"Can…we do that again? It was…nice. J-just that, though…n-nothing crazy."

With a flourish, Natasha flopped down beside the scientist.

"Yes, I'll kiss you, dork. And nothing crazy."

Bruce sighed happily

Coming back had totally been worth it.

* * *

 **Welp, that wraps that up, folks! Hope you liked this little foray into all that's good and sappy before CIVIL WAR arrives, and we all metaphorically drown in tears and feels.  
**

 **Next up... LOOK FOR NEW CHAPTERS ON "THE WAR OUTSIDE OUR DOOR KEEPS RAGIN' ON."** **We've got Ant-Man one shots coming up, as well as some general shenanigans at the new base.**

 **However...I will be going out of the country for the entirety of my spring break next week, and will not be bringing my laptop. I also have a lot to finish up before leaving for said trip, so I won't be posting this week either. I think it's safe to say you shouldn't expect to see anything until the end of the month, barring a miracle. I'm sorry to leave you all hanging like this, but I really need to get my work done, and my trip itinerary is so packed. So, I bid you all goodbye for now. If you haven't followed "The War Outside..." I'd advise you to do it within the month.**

 **Until next time! And, one last time:**

 **Reviews are wonderful things!**


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